The Trio of Legend: Two Jinchuuriki and a Battosai
by Cute lil Yami
Summary: Slight AU. NarutoxRurouni Kenshin Xover. Naruto and Gaara where both children that were feared and hated as long as they can remember. What happens when a famous ex assasin and swordsman decides to train them? Not good with Summaries.
1. The Jinchuuriki and the Rurouni

Chapter One:

The Jinchuuriki and the Rurouni

Naruto liked to use the swings at the park. For as long as he has lived—six years to be exact—he liked to swing up and down, stare at the sky and feel how, every time that the swing went up, he was closer to touching those fluffy, white clouds. He felt that every time that he swings his troubles and sadness just fly away with the wind. It was a wonderful feeling, and it always helped him to ignore the fact that all the kids that were playing in the park right now were ignoring his presence. Yep… every time that he came to the park was the same. He gets on one of the swings and watches as everyone else plays together. Well, he didn't blame them… their parents are the ones that don't want them to hang out with him. Naruto never quite understood why, though. Had he done something bad? He doesn't remember doing anything wrong… Maybe he'll ask Iruka-sensei again, although, every time that he brings up the subject, Iruka quickly changes it. Sometimes he thought that everyone else knew something that he didn't, and he didn't like feeling left out; but he couldn't ask anyone since they'll just make him shut up, or say bad words at him, or even kick him out of the place. Ah well… no point on thinking about that then… Naruto thought to himself as he kept swinging.

"I just wish that Iruka-sensei wasn't on a mission right now… then he could make me some company… and buy me some ramen…" Naruto said sadly to no one in particular. He sighed as he stopped swinging and took of the goggles that were on his head. He smiled weakly as he remembered that those were the goggles that Iruka-sensei gave to him right before he left for the mission.

_Flashback_

"_No, Iruka-sensei! Don't leave!" Naruto yelled as he gripped tightly to Iruka's vest. "I don't want you to go!"_

"_Naruto, let go!" Iruka said as he approached the gates of Konoha, his partners waiting for him._

"_NO!" Naruto said, stubbornly._

"_NARUTO!" Iruka said, getting angry at him. Naruto just grabbed onto him tighter._

"_I don't want you to leave!"_

"_Naruto! What's with you!? Every time that I leave on a mission you make the same tantrum! Every single time!" Iruka yelled at the young blond._

_Naruto's grip loosened, "It's just that… what if you don't… what if you don't come back…?" Naruto said with tears streaming down his cheeks, while he looked at Iruka with his big, blue and now watery eyes._

_Iruka couldn't help but to feel sorry for the little kid, "Naruto…" he said, wearing a nice, small smile. He crouched down to Naruto's height and said, "what is a shinobi?"_

"_A shinobi… is a warrior, a warrior that lives and dies for their village…" Naruto replied between sniffles._

"_Exactly… and what do shinobi do?" Iruka sensei said, while putting a hand on Naruto's shaking shoulder._

"_They go on missions to… to make sure that their village lives well…" Naruto said, shaking even more._

_Iruka nodded, "Nicely put Naruto, the well-being of this village is the top priority of a shinobi. That's why I'm going to this mission. I am going because I want to make sure that everyone on this village lives happy, even you Naruto." The young boy looked up at Iruka._

"_Even me?" Iruka nodded._

"_Of course! Konoha is not Konoha without you!" Iruka said, making Naruto smile slightly._

"_But… what if you don't come back? I… I don't want to be alone…" Naruto said, sobbing louder now. Iruka felt the pain that Naruto was feeling. He had also been an orphan when he was young, and he always did pranks to get attention, but at least no one made fun of him or insulted him… unlike Naruto._

"_Naruto…" Iruka said, frowning a bit. Then he smiled. He took of his back pack and reached for something in it._

"_Naruto, close your eyes."_

"_Why?" Naruto asked with curiosity._

"_Just do it, I have a surprise for you." Naruto did as told and Iruka took out a nice pair of goggles and placed them on Naruto's forehead. "Open them."_

_Naruto opened his eyes and touched his forehead. "What are these?"_

"_Those are my goggles. I used to wear them every time before I got my ninja headband," Iruka said, smiling at some of his most treasured memories. "I'm giving them to you for you to remember me by while I'm away."_

"_Really?" Naruto smiled widely. This was the very first time anyone gave him a present of any sort. "But… I don't have anything for you…"_

"_Don't worry, your big smile is enough for me!" Iruka said laughing. "Now, would you smile for me before I leave? But not just any smile… I want a Naruto-trademark smile!" Naruto giggled and smiled his biggest grin while giving the peace sign. Iruka smiled at the young boy's antics. _

"_I have to go now Naruto, but I promise that I'll be back," Iruka said, hugging Naruto and heading toward the gates of Konohagakure…_

_End flashback._

Naruto smiled again as he kept looking at his goggles. He kept swinging back and forth, liking the breeze that he felt on his face, until suddenly, the swing stopped abruptly and someone pushed him to the ground. He turned around to face the person that had pushed him just to see some of the kids that were playing in the park. Apparently they got bored and decided to pick on poor little Naruto. There were six of them in total, and all of them were wearing smug and arrogant grins on their faces. The biggest-looking one grabbed Naruto by the collar of the shirt, making him stand up, while he pulled Naruto closer to his face.

"How many times have we need to tell you to stay away from OUR park?" he said, glaring at Naruto with a lot of hate in his eyes. It was true, he had told him many times to stay away from the park. The first time he had told Naruto to do so, he obliged, until Iruka told him not to do such a foolish thing. He told him that the park was a place where every child in Konohagakure could have fun. So Naruto started going to the park again… not without getting a horrible pounding from these guys… but at least Iruka-sensei protected him from them almost every time…

"I asked you a question!" the big guy said.

"The park is a place where every child in Konohagakure can have fun!" Naruto replied, repeating the same words that Iruka said to him.

"Oh, is that so?" the kid said. He took the goggles off Naruto's head. "Well, let's have fun then!" Naruto's eyes widened.

"Give them back! Those are Iruka's!" Naruto yelled, struggling from the kid's tight grasp.

"Iruka's? What are you doing with them? Did you stole them?" the kid asked, with a huge devious grin.

"NO! IRUKA-SENSEI GAVE THEM TO ME!" Naruto yelled even louder. The kid just kept grinning.

"Oh… so they must be pretty valuable for you, huh?" the kid asked. He dropped Naruto on the ground. "I think they would look nice up there on that tree!" the kid said pointing to a very high tree that was used specially for teaching young gennin how to climb trees without using their hands. Naruto was far too young to know the first thing about climbing such high trees.

"NO! GIVE THEM BACK!" Naruto got ready to pounce on the big kid, but before he could even get to his feet, the other five kids hold him tightly. The kid smirked again and with all of his strength, he threw Naruto's goggles toward the tree. It landed on a pretty high branch. Even if it wasn't so high, Naruto was not going to be able to get it by himself.

"Ah… damn… I wanted it to go higher… ah well…" he motioned to the other kids to let go of him. As soon as Naruto hit the ground, all of them started to kick him in the stomach, in the face and in various parts of his body. After giving the young child a hard beating, the kids left the park, leaving Naruto there all alone, with a bunch of bruises all over his body. Slowly, he sat up and looked up to where the goggles had landed. It was pretty high, and Naruto knew that he was not going to be able to get them, unless someone got them for him. Naruto fell a warm sensation burning his eyes… it was a very familiar sensation, since he had it every night before going to bed.

He lowered his head and felt as his whole body began trembling. He felt rage.

This was one of the reasons why he hated to go out of his house on the day of his birthday.

People seemed to try to hurt him even more.

"Why!?" he asked himself as he stood up from the ground with a lot of effort. He kept glaring at the ground. _Why do people always pick on me?_

He looked up to the sky, as if he was looking for answers that were hiding from him between the white clouds.

"Why…" he asked himself again, but in a whisper. _Why do they hate me so much?_ He kept looking at the sky as he felt the rage turn into sadness, feeling said sadness slide down his cheeks in the form of tears. I only want to have friends! Is that too much to ask? He kept looking at the sky… as he asked one question… a question that he has always feared to ask… even Iruka.

_Did my parents… hate me too?_ Naruto knew that his parents were dead but… what if they hated him too, before they died? Maybe they died hating him. He won't be able to life with himself if he found out that that was true. He felt more tears roll down his whiskered cheeks.

He began to look again to where his goggles were. He dried the tears from his face and sniffled softly.

"No… I won't let that hold me back! I'm going to get those goggles even if it is the last thing I do!" Naruto said with a lot of determination in his voice as he began to walk toward the tree. He stopped right in front of it and he looked up.

"If I want to be Hokage one day… I have to fight all obstacles right? So this tree might just be one of the many obstacles I might have to face one day!" he said in his usual loud voice. "I'm going to get them back!" and with those words Naruto began climbing the tall tree, with only his confidence by his side.

-O-O-O-O-

A small, shy girl with white eyes and soft and pale skin, who had watched everything from the safety of a bench, alongside her cousin—who almost looked identical to her—watched as the little boy kept trying to climb that tree.

-O-O-O-O-

A young man with long red hair wearing a yukata, has just arrived to the Hidden Leaf, and so far, he has always liked this place. The people were quite friendly, and they didn't mind that he had a sword tied to his waist. He kept walking through the village, admiring his surroundings. Being a wanderer as he was, he traveled a lot, so he has visited plenty of hidden villages. Though, from all of the Hidden Villages he has visited, Konoha was his favorite.

"Sessha can't stay here long though… Sessha will only gather some provisions and I'll be in my way, de gozaru…" he said to no one in particular as he kept walking. "But first… sessha is going to need some money, de gozaru yo..." he said with a sheepish look on his face. "Hmm… maybe someone here could spare a part time job or something…" he kept walking looking for a place that might offer him a job, so he could get some money, so he could buy some provisions, so he could continue living his life as a wanderer. He kept walking until he reached a place called 'Ichiraku's'. He entered the small ramen shop, to find two people working there: a young, attractive girl, and an older man. The young woman smiled at him when they saw him come in.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! Can I take your order?" the young woman said, smiling widely at him.

"Ah, yes, hello miss," he said politely, smiling back. "Sessha was just wondering… are you willing to have someone work here part-time? It is just that sessha needs the money, de gozaru. Sessha just arrived into town, and… well… to put it frankly… I'm broke," he said smiling sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. The young woman looked at him a bit confusedly. She didn't think that they needed help… but he seemed so nice and polite… and maybe, to just do him the favor, they could let him work there for a while.

"Father," the young woman said, getting the attention of the older man, "this man wants to work part time here, what do you think?" she said

"Hmm… well boy… do you have any idea how to cook ramen?" he said. The older man seemed quite friendly.

"Well… not really… but maybe this one could help by cleaning the dishes, de gozaru," he said, "Sessha just needs money to buy provisions, so sessha can continue his life as a wanderer," he said frankly. The owner of the restaurant though that maybe he _could_ use an extra hand when it came to cleaning the shop. He nodded.

"All right. I could use the extra help, you can start right away if you like." the older man smiled and nodded. "We'll talk about your salary later." The stranger smiled and bowed.

"Sessha is grateful, de gozaru yo!" the man smiled once again.

"My name is Ayame," the young woman said. "Can we know your name?

"Oh, how impolite of sessha! My name's is Himura… Himura Kenshin."

-O-O-O-O-

After six hours of trying to get his goggles with no avail, Naruto laid on the ground, breathing exhaustedly. Sure, he has climbed trees before, but not so high up, and in the condition he was… it just made things harder. It was already 7 o clock in the evening, so the moon was shinning brightly in the night sky, and the music from the festival in Konoha, the festival that they celebrate every 10th of October, has just begun. Naruto never liked to assist to that festival. From some reason, people used to treat him worse when he went.

He sighed, "Man… this is harder than I thought…" he said panting softly. He sat up softly and rested his back against the tree.

"With those kinds of bruises, you will never be able to climb such a high tree, de gozaru." an unfamiliar voice said to him. The person walked to where Naruto was resting. He was wearing a informal yukata, with a sword tied to his waist, long red hair, a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, wearing a nice, wide smile.

Naruto couldn't help but to feel a bit anxious. People who carried swords were usually merciless killers. Naruto gulped. Maybe he came to kill him… since everyone in his village always has hated him.

"Don't worry child, sessha won't hurt you, de gozaru" the man said, still smiling. Naruto didn't know why, but he could feel that this man did not mean any harm. Said man pulled back the longs sleeves of the yukata, and began climbing the tree with his hands. Naruto kept looking at him with wide eyes. He was helping _him. _Naruto was just speechless. The man climbed down the tree with the goggles in his hand. He smiled again as he handed the goggles to Naruto.

Naruto stared at him for a moment. Why… had this stranger helped him? Didn't he hate him, like the rest of the people from Konoha… unless he wasn't from Konoha…

Naruto finally found his voice. "Uh… I… uh… thank… you," Naruto said, still looking a bit confused, taking the goggles. The man nodded, without the smile leaving his face, not once, and turned around to leave.

Naruto looked up again just to see that the man wasn't there anymore. He frowned a bit. He wanted to learn his name, so he could at least thank him properly. _Oh well… maybe next time I see him, I'll ask his name._

_-_O-O-O-O-

Naruto began walking to his house. He felt happy; not fake happy, but happy-happy! For the first time in his life, someone beside Iruka or the Hokage, helped him with something! Naruto kept walking, humming a happy tune, when he noticed something peculiar… there weren't any villagers glaring at him… in fact there weren't any villagers at all… not around where he was standing anyway. What was more weird was that the festival was supposed to be today… he had heard the music, so where was everybody? He looked around some more, until he saw a huge cloud of smoke, rising up to the sky, not to far from where he was standing. Naruto, with his curious nature kicking in, decided that he wanted to check it out, so he ran to where the smoke was coming from… only to stop in his tracks abruptly. He gasped at what he saw.

_His apartment was on fire._

But what shocked him even more, was not that his apartment was burning, It was the fact that every single villager he always saw when he walked his way home were standing there, some drunks, other sober, some with dangerous weapons on hand, others came empty handed, but were cracking their knuckles in pure excitement. Naruto gulped. He knew where this was going. At his current age (and state), he definitely couldn't fight almost 50 people all by himself, so he did what kids his age are best at doing…

_He ran._

_They followed._

Naruto began running, taking turns, trying to confuse them and shake them off. His body was aching and begging him to stop, but he knew that if he did, he wouldn't survive. Naruto felt his eyes burning again. _Where am I going to go now? My apartment is on fire! Where can I hide? Where!? _He thought to himself as he kept running. Then he got it!

_The Hokage Tower._

As much as the villagers hated it, Sarutobi the Sandaime has always stood up for Naruto; so if he went there, the Sandaime would protect him, no matter what. Naruto looked over his right shoulder, only to see that the villagers were getting closer. Naruto took another look upwards, seeing some of them running on the roof tops, meaning that they were probably ninja. Naruto stopped hastily as four chunnin landed right in front of him. He was about to head back, only to find all the villagers standing behind him with detestable looks on their eyes.

"Where do you think you're going, demon brat?" said one of the chunnin that were standing in front of him. Naruto's eyes were wide. He stayed silent.

Another chunnin smiled in a devious way, looking at Naruto evilly, "Heh, I say we waste him, here and now. If the Hokage asks, we'll just tell him that we found his body inside the death forest." A lot of people nodded in agreement.

"You will regret destroying our village six years ago… and killing our hero," another chunnin said, reaching for a kunai on his weapon's pouch. Naruto didn't understand what was going on. How did he attack the village six years ago? He was a newborn! When have you seen newborns destroying villages? Naruto backed up against a wall, as the chunnin and villagers approached him.

"Say your prayers, demon brat!" the first chunnin said as launched himself—with a kunai in hand—toward the blond-haired child. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the blow that would end his life for sure. He was shaking and sweating, sobbing too. He was scared to death as he waited.

_And waited…_

_And waited…_

_And waited…_

But the hit never came. Naruto opened his eyes after he heard a dry sounding 'thud.' When he did, he felt as his jaw hit the ground. There he was, the man that had retrieved his goggles from the high tree, with his sword in hand, looking menacingly at the ninjas, who were standing in front of him with wide eyes. _When had he arrived? How long had he been watching? He didn't even make a sound when he appeared... _Naruto thought. He was still standing against the wall. He was waiting to see what the stranger was about to do. To his amazement, he just sheathed his sword away. Naruto stared at him as if he had grown a second head. _What is he doing? Doesn't he know that he's actually going to fight real ninjas?_

The man finally spoke, "Sessha shall give you an opportunity to back away now, and you shall not be harmed, de gozaru," he said seriously. All of them laughed as if he was telling a great, funny joke.

"Do you really think that you can take on all of us? Seriously, get real!" said one of the villagers. The stranger said nothing. "Look, our business is not with you, so if you just step aside, we will kill this demon brat, and go on with our lives. So move out of the way!" The stranger did not move.

"Fine! Have it your way then!" The four chunnin launched a simultaneous attack at the stranger. Naruto didn't know how it happened, but all four chunnin were in the ground, all unconscious. He saw how the man, in less than a second, took out his sword and blocked all of their attacks with a counter attack of his own. They all just flew backwards and landed on the ground. Naruto's eyes couldn't be wider. He has never seen anyone like this man. He knocked them out in less than second! Four chunnin! He wondered if they were dead…

The red-haired stranger still had the sword in his hand as he looked toward the rest of the villagers. They were all glaring at him with looks of pure hatred.

"You're going to pay for that, you bastard!" one of the sober villagers said, "Let's get him!" All fifty villagers charged at him. He did not flinch. Naruto tried not to blink, just to see how that man fights. At the speed of sound, the man leaped at least 10 feet in the air, dodging all of those angry villagers' attacks. He landed at least 3 feet away from them; as he charged at them at full speed. The only thing that Naruto got to see were the bright slashes of the sword attacking the villagers, and said villagers flying backwards and falling to the ground, either dead or unconscious. Naruto really couldn't tell. In a matter of seconds, every single one of the villagers was in the ground, defeated. Naruto looked at this man with eyes filled with inspiration and admire. That man has just done yet another good thing for him! He saved his life! Naruto kept looking at the man as he turned around and smiles at him.

"Are you ok, you child?" the man said, with a look of concern in his eyes.

Naruto just said one thing, "You're awesome! Train me!" The stranger had a confused look on his eyes.

"Oro?" he couldn't believe what the boy was saying. He didn't know if to consider it rude for asking just like that without even saying 'thanks for saving me', or cute for seeing that the child thought that he was… 'Awesome.'

"I want you to train me, mister! Your fighting skills are awesome! I want to be a great fighter, like you!" Naruto said, smiling widely. The stranger could swear that the child's eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Um… Sessha doesn't think that your parents will approve, de gozaru…" the stranger said, scratching his head with a sheepish smile.

"That won't be a problem… since… well… since I don't have parents, I'm an orphan," Naruto said, his smile completely banishing from his face. The stranger felt sorry for the child.

"Oh… gomenasai…" the swordsman said with a look of sadness in his face. He decided to change the topic. "Why were those people following you, child?"

Naruto tilted his head in thought. "Hmm… I really don't know… the people from this village just hate me, I guess…" he shrugged.

"Oro? What do you mean 'they just hate you?'"

"Just that. They've always hated me for a reason I was never able to understand… maybe it's because my birthday is the same day as the day that the Kyuubi attacked Konoha…"

"That's not a good enough reason, de gozaru…" the stranger said. "Do you have caretakers? Don't they stand up for you when these villagers do… such horrible things?" the man couldn't really understand how more than fifty villagers could gang up on an innocent child.

Naruto shook his head, "No, I live by myself… well, Hokage-ojii-san gives me a weekly allowance so I can buy food an stuff…but I live alone." The man though this was an outrage. How can a child his age live alone? All of the good thoughts he had about this village at first, were slowly dissolving with this newly acquired information.

The man sighed, "What is your name, child?" he asked.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I will one day become a great ninja! And after that, I will become Hokage! So the people of this village will start respecting me and looking up to me!"

"What's yours?"

"Himura Kenshin."

"Kenshin-san, eh?" Naruto smiled at this. "So… are you going to train me, or what?" Kenshin smiled sheepishly.

"I don't know, Naruto-kun…" Kenshin said, scratching his head.

"Awww, Kenshin-nii-san! Pleeaaaseeee!" Naruto said with a pleading look on his eyes.

"What if we talk about this in the morning? We need to get those wounds and bruises tended." Kenshin said. Naruto pouted. He has never liked to go to the hospital.

"Hai, Kenshin-nii-san…" he said. Kenshin smiled slightly.

"C'mon, let's go Naruto-kun," Kenshin said as he motioned Naruto to get on his back, since he knew that the small boy must be tired. Naruto hesitated, but obliged. Kenshin took of with the young boy on his back to head toward the hospital in Konoha.

-O-O-O-O-

After Kenshin left Naruto at the Konoha Hospital, so they could treat their wounds, he decided to visit a very good, old friend, and while he was there he planned to tell him what the villagers tried to do to poor Naruto. Kenshin headed toward the Hokage tower, hoping that his good friend Sarutobi was still in there, and hadn't left to his house yet. He smiled at the thought of his good friend. He climbed the stairs, and walked toward two chunnin that were standing in the entrance to the Hokage's Office.

"Excuse me, but sessha would like to speak with the Hokage, de gozaru," Kenshin said smiling widely, "That is, if he's not too busy."

One of the chunnin looked at him strangely, "Who are you, sir?"

"I'm an old friend of his, Himura Kenshin," the chunnin looked at each other.

"I'm sorry Himura-san, but unless you have an emergency situation to inform the Hokage, he cannot attend anyone without an appointment, please forgive this inconvenience," the other chunnin said.

"That's the point. Some child, by the name Uzumaki Naruto, was attacked by a mob of angry villagers… fifty villagers and four chunnin," the swordsman informed. The chunnin's eyes widened.

"You can pass, sir! Where's the child?"

"Don't worry about him, he's safe and sound at the hospital, de gozaru," Kenshin said smiling. The chunnin nodded as they followed him inside the office.

-O-O-O-O-

Sarutobi was sitting as his desk, with a lot of paper work to do. He sighed. Even though that he liked to be the Hokage, so that way he could ensure the safety of his precious village, but he still needed to look for a predecessor soon… he was getting too old to stay up late, doing paper work. Sarutobi yawned widely, as he felt his eyes betraying him. He took another sip from the cup that contained his, now cold, coffee to see if he could stay awake for a bit longer. He placed the cup back at the desk, and rubbed his temples. His head was bobbing side to side, feeling that anytime now, his head will just drop onto the desk for his own tiredness.

"Hn… I should take a vacation… I wouldn't mind relaxing for a while at the hot springs…" he said sitting up straight again. Suddenly the door busted open, revealing two chunnin and a man with long, red hair and a cross-shaped scar on his left check…

"Kenshin!" Sarutobi said, with 'shock' written all over his face. He stood up from his desk and smiled as he headed toward his friend and gave him a hug, (A/N: friendly hug at that) "it's a pleasure to see you again!" They broke the hug.

"Hai, it is, de gozaru," Kenshin said smiling at Sarutobi, "but I'm afraid that sessha comes porting bad news, de gozaru," Kenshin added.

"Bad news? What happened?"

Kenshin's smile disappeared from his face as he explained the Sandaime everything that had happened today. He described what those villagers did to Naruto, not leaving any detail out.

Sarutobi sighed, "They will just never learn, will they?" he shook his head. "Kotetsu, Izumo… inform the ANBU about this. I want every villager and ninja that was part of this to be seriously questioned," both of the chunnin nodded and left the office. Sarutobi rubbed his temples once more.

"I've take it that you have been stressed lately?" Kenshin asked as he sat down on a chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

"More than you can imagine… I've been through a lot of sleepless nights lately… specially with what happened at the Uchiha compound a couple of weeks ago… I'm just getting too old for this…" Sarutobi said, taking out a small bottle of sake and purring it on two cups. He offered Kenshin one, who gladly accepted.

Sarutobi took a sip, "Aah… there's nothing like a good sake between friends, eh?" he said as he laughed, almost sourly.

Kenshin also took a sip, "Oh… did sessha tell you that Naruto-kun asked me to train him?" Sarutobi couldn't help but to smile.

"I bet that he was impressed with your fighting skills, Kenshin," Sarutobi said, "what did you tell him?"

"Sessha told him that we would talk about this in the morning, de gozaru yo," Kenshin said smiling.

Sarutobi sighed slightly, "You do know why the villagers hate Naruto so much, right?"

"Well… sessha isn't completely sure… but sessha thinks that it has something to do with the Kyubbi, the strongest of the Bijuu, right?" Kenshin said,

The Sandaime nodded, "Exactly six years ago, in a day just like this, the Kyuubi, one of the Tailed Demon Lords, attacked Konoha, destroying half of the village, and killing hundreds in the process. I suppose that you remember Arashi, right?"

Kenshin nodded, "Yes, the Yondaime, if I'm not mistaken… Sessha heard that he had deceased, de gozaru."

"Yes, he did. He died when he saved the village from the Kyuubi, by sealing it inside the body of a newborn…"

"That newborn being Naruto, correct?" Kenshin asked. Sarutobi nodded again.

"That is correct. His last wish was that everyone saw Naruto as a hero, for he had been the one that saved the village from complete and total destruction. But… I'm afraid that his wish was not granted, as you have seen…" Sarutobi said, with a lot of sadness in his voice.

"Sessha understands now…a lot of things that were quite unclear, de gozaru," Kenshin said. Silence filled the room when they both stopped talking.

Sarutobi looked at Kenshin with an almost sorrowful look on his face, "Can I ask you a small favor, Himura Kenshin?" the young swordsman looked at the Hokage with seriousness. When his friend used his whole name, it normally meant that he was going to say something important.

"Hai?"

"Can you take him and train him? He really is better off away from this village… just bring him back when he's ready to graduate from the Ninja Academy," Sarutobi said with a pleading look on his eyes. "He just… he just isn't going to be happy here, Kenshin. You saw how those villagers tried to kill him. That happens all the time. He's not going to be safe here. I know that you are a very caring person Kenshin, so consider this a favor between friends… please, Kenshin… I'm practically begging you."

Kenshin smiled slightly, "All right, my friend, if that's what you wish, sessha shall take Naruto-kun under my tutoring, de gozaru yo," he said nodding toward his friend. "Sessha shall take care of him as if he was my own."

Sarutobi smiled, "Thank you, Kenshin. I knew that I could count on you."

Kenshin nodded, "But I'm going to stay a few days, sessha has to work, so sessha can buy provisions for our long trip, de gozaru."

"Hai, I shall give you a small payment too though," Sarutobi said.

Kenshin smiled and nodded. _This is surely going to be an interesting experience, de gozaru yo._

-O-O-O-O-

A/N: What can I say? I wanted to write this a long time ago… I've had this chapter on a Jump drive for a while so… yeah…

The reason why I haven't uploaded my other stories was because my computer busted, so now I'm using a borrowed one… one that blocks almost everything since this comp was given to me by a the school, for a limited time. Neh…

Ok, I think that I should explain some things about this fanfic:

In this chapter, Kenshin is currently 26, he has fought alongside Konoha a few times now, (which will be explained in the fan fic in latter chapters). He knows a few ninja skills, but of course, his forte is his style, the Hiten Mitsurugi.

Naruto will be gone for five years, and he will return when he is 11 years old, so he can go to the Academy for at least a year, so he can graduate and become a gennin.

Gaara will also be appearing in this fan fic, he is going to be one of the main characters. Eventually, he will join Naruto and Kenshin on their travels.

Japanese Terms

1-Sessha- This unworthy one.

2-de gozaru- its like a verb, its something similar to Naruto's 'datte bayo'

3- Chunnin- commoners,

4-Gennin- Junior Ninja

5- ANBU- Black Ops.

6-Hokage- Fire Shadow.

7-Konohagakura- The village of the Leaf

Until the next chapter!

Ja ne!


	2. Of Chakra Molding and Hand Seals

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto.

"Blah" normal dialog.

'_Blah'_ flashback dialog.

_-Blah_- thoughts.

"**_Blah"_ **The 'voice'

-O-O-O-O-

Chapter Two:

Of Chakra Molding and Hand seals

Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress to the position of the Head of the Hyuuga Clan, was currently in her bedroom window, looking at the bright sun, shinning over the beautiful sakura trees in the backyard of the famous Hyuuga compound. She had heard about what happened to Naruto two days ago. Little Hinata was devastated. She couldn't believe that the villagers were actually capable of doing such… dreadful things. Hinata knew that Naruto pulled a numerous amount of pranks, and sometimes—well, most of the times—he could really get on a person's nerves, but they didn't have the right to gang up on him and attack him the way they did.

"And it was his birthday too… and I wasn't able to give him his present…" Hinata said to herself, as she looked at her white vanity, were upon it laid a small wrapped box. One day, at the Academy after class she _overheard _Iruka and Naruto talking about when his birthday was, so she thought that she should get him a present… even if she knew that she wouldn't dare give it to him. The day of the incident, she had asked her cousin Neji to accompany her to the park… so maybe with her cousin by her side, she would've have the confidence and bravery in her to give him that small present. She felt a bit of confidence, but when she saw those kids attack Naruto…

Hinata sighed. Naruto was going to be released from the hospital that day and she wished that she could visit him, but her father completely forbids her to associate with Naruto, saying that that would ruin the reputation of the Hyuugas. She also remembered that she had to train… yet another reason why she couldn't go to see Naruto.

"Oh well… even if I could go, I wouldn't dare to anyway…" she said. She got off her bed as she heard a knock at the door.

"Hinata-sama," the voice of Neji, her cousin and member of the Hyuuga Branch Family said from behind the door, "Hiashi-sama requests for your presence at the training room in ten minutes." His voice was void of all emotions.

"H-Hai, Neji-nii-san, I'll be there soon," Hinata answered. She was worried for her cousin. He has not been the same ever since his father, Hyuuga Hizashi, died. He had become distant and sour at the world and he doesn't look at Hinata the same way he used to before he lost his father. Hinata sighed once more as she got dressed and exited her room. There she saw Neji standing in front of her bedroom door with his arms crossed, wearing an expressionless look on his face.

"Ohayo, Hinata-sama," he said, bowing to her slightly, "Come now, Hiashi-sama is waiting." Hinata noticed how he said her father's name with disguised disgust.

"Hai, N-Neji-nii-san…" Hinata said, not looking at him directly in the eyes. He said nothing as he turned around and went down the stairs with Hinata following closely. The Hyuuga compound was a huge place with tight security (even tighter since the time a Cloud shinobi tried to kidnap Hinata), complex halls and many rooms. If someone who was not familiar with the place decided to enter, that person would get lost easily, if that person is not spotted by a Hyuuga, with their amazing bloodline, first.

Hinata and Neji arrived to the biggest training room of the Hyuuga compound, only used by the Hyuuga Main Family. The only times that Branch members were allowed to use it, is when they have to train with a member of the Main. The room contained various ninja weapons, scrolls with techniques only known by the Hyuuga Clan—some of them only known by the Main family—targets to practice aiming, dummies to practice taijutsu, or Juken (also known as Gentle Fist), and a variety of ninja gear. Hinata and Neji walked toward Hiashi, who was knelt on a mat in the floor, meditating.

"Ohayo, musumo," Hiashi said, without opening his eyes.

"Ohayo, o-otou-san," Hinata greeted back, kneeling in front of her father.

Hiashi opened his eyes and took a look at his daughter. She looked so fragile and weak… sometimes he even doubted she was even a Hyuuga, let alone his flesh and blood. He looked at her sternly as he said "Let us begin." He stood up from the floor and got into a stance as he looked down to his daughter, who also stood up. Neji went into a far corner and sat down to watch them spar.

"H-Hai…" Hinata said, also getting into a fighting stance. Hiashi began throwing soft chakra covered punches at her vitals. Hinata was dodging them with a bit of trouble.

"Move your feet, don't stand in one place," Hiashi said, sending blows to different parts of her body. Hinata took his advice and began to move more, making it harder for Hiashi to hit her vitals, but not impossible.

"Your movements are still too inept," Hiashi said, countering her attacks, "spread your legs more."

Neji was watching Hinata's efforts to follow her father's instructions. He shook his head softly. _She is weak, and she will always be weak, that is her fate …_ Neji thought bitterly as he touched his forehead, where the cursed seal was. _No one will ever change that… _he thought again.

Hinata was panting as she kept countering her father's blows. Hiashi sent one to her chest, which she blocked, but got another one sent to her stomach which she wasn't able to counter, throwing her off balance and making her fall on her bottom. Hiashi walked toward her.

"Hinata, you aren't moving quickly enough. Your attempts to dodge my attacks are clumsy, utterly useless," he crouched to her height, "your cousin Neji, is already a more efficient fighter than you are, he even has the Byakugan now, something that you—a member of the Hyuuga Main Family—has not been able to do. I'm not complimenting him, it's quite the opposite; I'm showing you how weak you are..." he stood up straight. "You should be ashamed of yourself. To be surpassed by a Branch member… pathetic," he said. Hinata could feel as her eyes filled with tears. She hated it when her father looked down on her… it made her feel so worthless and… _pathetic._

"G-Gomenasai, o-otou-san," she said standing up once more.

Her father got into a fighting stance again, "Continue." They both began to spar once more…

-O-O-O-O-

Naruto couldn't wait until he was released from that hospital. He has been so bored these past two days; he hasn't even eaten any ramen! He sighed with frustration. The only good thing was that Iruka had returned from his mission safe and sound and he had offered Naruto that as soon as he was released from the hospital, he was going to treat him to some ramen. Naruto almost jumped out of his hospital bed with joy when he heard this.

He smiled at the memory, "Oh well… at least Iruka-sensei is alright…" Naruto said smiling while looking out the window. It was a sunny and beautiful morning. Some of the patients were outside in the hospital grounds feeding the birds, doing exercises (those that could), or just simply enjoying the autumn breeze. He smiled while he watched them as he remembered about the few visitors that he has had these past two days. Besides Iruka, the Sandaime came to visit, cheering him up a bit by bringing him some candy, dango, and rice balls, which was answered by:

'_Thanks, but why didn't you bring me ramen instead?'_

_The Sandaime laughed at this and said,_

'_Ah well… too much ramen isn't good for you.'_

'_So you bring me candy instead?' _

_The Sandaime laughed again._

'_Well… sugar is good for your soul.'_

'_Aha…'_

_Seriously… Hokage-ojii-san has a weird way of thinking…_ Naruto thought as he kept looking outside. He remembered when Kenshin came to visit him. He came wearing a wide smile as always, but his eyes reflected a look of concern. Naruto didn't know why, but every time that he looked into that man's eyes, he could see years of suffering and a great amount of wisdom… even if that man couldn't be older than Iruka. Naruto still couldn't believe that that samurai had defeated fifty villagers and four chunnin all by himself. When he came, the first thing that Naruto said to him was:

'_Are you going to train me? Please Kenshin-nii-san! I want to be as strong as you!'_

_Kenshin smiled softly._

'_Strength is nothing without wisdom, Naruto-kun. Never pick brawns over brains, de gozaru.'_

'_Okay then… I want to be as strong and as wise as you, Kenshin-nii-san!'_

_Kenshin smiled nicely at Naruto._

'_Actually, Hokage-sama asked sessha to train you, de gozaru.'_

_Naruto was speechless._

'…'

'_Um… Naruto-kun?'_

'…'

'_Oro…?' Kenshin got a bit close to Naruto. He was wearing a blank expression._

'_YAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTAAAAAAAAA!' Naruto leaped out from the bed, and tackled Kenshin. 'YEEEEES! YEEEEEEEEESSSS! THANK YOU, KENSHIN-NII-SAN! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN! I PROMISE THAT I WILL TRAIN VERY, VERY HARD EVERY SINGLE DAY!'_

'_Sessha knows you will, de gozaru.'_

'_Then uh… when are we going to begin?'_

_Kenshin smiled sheepishly, 'We'll be leaving Konoha in two months, so something around then.'_

'_We'll… leave Konoha? Forever?'_

'_No! Not forever, de gozaru! Just for a few years. Three, five tops.'_

'_Oh… ok!'_

_I can't wait until we start training together!,_ Naruto thought with excitement. _Though I'm not sure if I want to leave Konoha just like that…_ He sat up straight as he began remembering all that he has been through in Konohagakure. How many people had hurt him, how the only people that actually acknowledged him in the whole village was the Hokage and Iruka. _Maybe leaving for a while wouldn't be such a bad idea…_He sighed as he looked outside the window again. He wished that he could've at least brought his scrolls with him. Naruto decided that if he one day was going to become Hokage, he did have to learn about Konoha and all of its secrets and history; so he went to the library, but as soon as he as much placed a foot on the place, he was kicked out. So he went toward Hokage-sama to ask for some scrolls. The old man accepted with the condition that the scrolls never leave the Hokage Tower. Naruto was a bit angry at first, but after his apartment was almost completely destroyed, he couldn't have been more thankful. Everyday he visits the Hokage Tower after class, so he can read and inform himself about Konohagakure and its past. Right now, he was reading about its prestigious and famous clans. Naruto was hoping that he would find a clan named Uzumaki, but was utterly disappointed.

Naruto had also asked for some Ninjutsu scrolls so he could train himself, since no one could actually train him. The Hokage agreed. He gave Naruto a Ninjutsu scroll with jutsus up to B-Rank, with only one condition: never teach them to anyone, nor tell them where he learned them. Naruto agreed to these conditions. Who was he going to tell anyway? It wasn't as if he had friends... But he still had to be very cautious, so he has never told anyone from his class, not even Iruka, that he has been studying Ninjustsus secretly; and to raise less suspicions, he pretended to be the 'Dead Last' from his class. Though for now, he doesn't worry about that too much since he has only had that scroll for a few days, he has not been able to learn not even one justsu from it; and also since he still didn't know how to mold chakra, it was a bit harder. He also needed to learn hand seals. Mizuki began talking about them while Iruka was away, but he never showed them how they were done, instead he gave them an assignment to find out about them in the library, and as you may well know, Naruto doesn't get along well with the owner of the library. He was going to ask the Hokage that day for a scroll on the subject, but he was in an important meeting with the Mizukage, so he wasn't able to. As you can imagine, Naruto failed that assignment, and since he failed it, he didn't quite learn the appropriate hand seals.

Naruto sighed once more as he heard the door to his room being opened by one of the nurses who entered the room, followed by Iruka and the Hokage.

"Ohayo, Naruto," Iruka said, patting Naruto on the head, ruffling his hair a bit. Naruto grinned widely.

"Ohayo Iruka-sensei! Ohayo Hokage-ojii-san!" Naruto greeted happily. "Did you come to bring me some ramen?" an amused smile appeared on Iruka's lips.

"Seriously Naruto, do you think about ramen all the time?" Iruka asked.

"No! Not all the time! I also think about becoming a great ninja, so I can become Hokage!" Naruto said.

"Oh, sorry then Naruto," Iruka said laughing.

Sarutobi walked toward Naruto and smiled to him, "Actually Naruto, today you will be released from the hospital, so we came to look for you," he said.

"YES! FINALLY!" Naruto cheered. He got up from his bed happily, smiling broadly.

"Keep it down Naruto! We're in a hospital!" Iruka said in a harsh voice. Naruto covered his mouth and grinned in a sheepish way.

"Oops… gomenasai, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. Iruka smiled at the blond child. He looked toward a small side table next to Naruto's bed and there he saw the goggles that he had given Naruto before he went to his previous mission. Iruka smiled softly as he thought about the ruckus that Naruto made that day… he never thought that Naruto cared for him that much… maybe that explains why Naruto pulls so many pranks on him…

"Come now, let's get you out of here, you need to go back to the Academy," Sarutobi said.

Naruto whined, "But it's just so boring…"

"Ah well… if you don't want to become a shinobi, I guess that we can take you out of the Academy…" Sarutobi said, turning around to leave.

"NO! I meant—I LOVE the Academy!" both Sarutobi and Iruka laughed.

"That's what I thought you meant," Sarutobi said smiling.

"Okay—HEY! WAIT A MINUTE!" Naruto said, raising his voice a bit too much, "You promised to buy me some ramen at Ichiraku's when I got out of the hospital!" Naruto added, pointing an accusing finger at Iruka.

Iruka nodded, "I know I did," Iruka replied, "but it will be after you go to the Academy. Today we will be talking about Chakra." Naruto pouted as he heard this… to think that he was looking forward to eating ramen as soon as he got out…

-O-O-O-O-

After a bit of paper work, clean up, and whines from an annoyed Naruto, they—minus the Hokage—had arrived to the Academy. Frankly, the students were glad to have Iruka back as a teacher (classes with Mizuki were even more boring than Iruka's) and they cheered at him loudly as he entered the classroom, followed by Naruto—whose wounds given by the bullies at the park were completely healed—who was grinning widely. Hinata was sitting at the highest row in the back of the classroom. She blushed and smiled when she saw that Naruto was alright, but of course, Naruto didn't notice.

"I'm glad that he's better now…" she whispered barely audible to anyone. She watched as Naruto, sat down on his rightful place next to the pink haired girl, Sasuke's biggest fan, and Naruto's first crush, Haruno Sakura. He smiled as he poked her in the shoulder, distracting Sakura from staring at Sasuke. She turned around to look at him.

"Huh? Oh… it's you…" she said when she faced him. "What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked bitterly. Frankly, she disliked Naruto for the way he pulled all of those disrespectful pranks on the teachers. At first, she didn't understand why her parents completely forbid her to be near Naruto, but after she saw his behavior she understood perfectly. What good, responsible parent would want their kid hanging out with a undisciplined and unruly child?

Naruto blushed slightly, "Um… I was just wondering… erm… would you like to go to Ichiraku's this afternoon with Iruka and me?" he said with a hopeful look on his eyes.

Sakura groaned frustrated, "Naruto, how many times do I have to say it? I DON'T want to go to Ichiraku's with you!"

Naruto's look saddened a bit, "It's just that… well… I thought that you might've changed your mind…" he said in a whisper. Sakura rolled her eyes and said nothing. She went back to starring at Sasuke. Naruto sighed. He has liked Sakura for a while, but every time that he invited her to play at the sandbox or at the swings, she declined saying that she rather see what 'Sasuke-kun' was up to. He still didn't find what Sakura—or all those other girls—liked about the Uchiha so much. He knew that Sasuke knew a very cool fire jutsu… and that he had great aim when it came at throwing weapons like kunai or shuriken… his taijutsu was almost flawless for a kid his age… he also had the highest grades from that group… _Okay, I'll admit that Sasuke is pretty cool, but still… sheesh!_ Naruto thought as he frowned. _I can be as good as Sasuke!_ he thought again.

Naruto took a look around the classroom. There he saw Choji eating yet another bag of chips. Choji was part of well-known clan in Konoha, the Akimichi Clan. The former is a small clan, but big in size since every single member of this clan are… well, obese. Their special ability is to super-size any part of their body, whether are their arms, legs or head. Naruto thought that the Akimichi clan was a friendly one, at least not as stuck up as the Hyuuga clan. Their feelings of supremacy and superiority were quite exasperating.

Sitting next to Choji was Shikamaru, who was about to fall asleep. Shikamaru was member of another small clan, the Nara Clan; known for their infamous **Kage Mane no Jutsu **(Shadow Imitation Technique) and for their great abilities at formulating strategies for battles. Naruto smiled softly. He knew that Shikamaru was a genius… he was just too lazy. If he would stop being so lazy, and actually focus on being a ninja, he was sure that he would be able to surpass the Uchiha in no time.

In the back row was Shino, from the Aburame Clan, a really quiet and serious clan. They were well known for their ability to communicate bugs and use them for battles. They didn't really have any special jutsu, but they were a very prestigious and precious clan to Konoha. Naruto found out that they are able to produce bugs at any time. The newborn is given up to the Kikari, or destruction bug. Both benefits from the ritual, the Kikai receive chakra as food while the newborn receives the bugs for protection and combat. For an unknown reason, all of the members of the Aburame Clan wear large coats, with collars that reach up to their nostrils, and they all wear sunglasses.

Sitting next to Shino was Hinata (who blushed intensively when she noticed that Naruto was looking at her direction), member of the stuck up, arrogant, I'm-better-than-thou, Hyuuga Clan. The Hyuuga Clan consists of the Head Family and Branch Family. The first born of the Head Family will take the title as the "Head Family". The second born of the Head Family will take the title as the "Branch Family". Any child of the Branch Family will remain secondary to the Head Family. The Head Family is the one to carry on the secret of the Byakugan and the Branch Family is the one to protect it. The Branch Family is given the Curse Seal at age three to insure their loyalty. The Head Family is able to control the magnitude of the Curse Seal with a simple hand seal. When a person with the curse seal dies, their advance ability dies with them. Their Taijutsu is known as the Juken, or gentle fist; which goes perfectly with their ability to see the chakra points in a human's body. Naruto never actually liked the members of that Clan, but little, shy Hinata was different. She was kind and nice, of course she was piteously timid, but if given the chance and the confidence, she would be a great kunoichi one day.

Ino was glaring daggers at Sakura, since she got to sit next to Sasuke and she couldn't. Ino was part of the Yamanaka Clan, another small clan. Their abilities consisted on controlling a person's body and mind. They were mostly nice and friendly, but they could get to be scary when they wanted to. Take Ino for example: who would think that a lovely, blond, little girl could get so violent when it came to Sasuke? Naruto rolled his eyes. Fan girls were something out of this world.

Kiba was currently laughing at Ino's enraged expression. He was part of the Inuzuka clan, a bunch of animal lovers, which specialized on using dogs on the battle field. They trained themselves to actually be able to understand these canines. The all have a great sense of hearing and smell; and a well developed sixth sense for danger. Naruto read that they could also merge together with their assigned canine into a huge, fearsome beast.

Naruto looked toward Sakura, who was smirking almost evilly at Ino. Sakura belonged in the Haruno family. Most of the Haruno's were specialized medic nins, so Naruto wouldn't be surprise if Sakura grew up to be a medic nin. He was sure that if she forgot about her love life, and got more serious with her kounochi career, she could become a medic nin with a knowledge and skill that could even surpass that of Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin.

Sasuke was looking indifferent, not really caring what was going on around him. He had a brooding expression that always irked Naruto, though he quite understands why he feels this way. His clan was completely obliterated a few weeks ago by his own brother, leaving him as its last survivor, the last Uchiha. This clan was considered Konoha's strongest since they possessed the Sharingan, a bloodline limit that is able to copy any Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or Taijutsu, except other bloodlines. Naruto didn't really know much about that clan, since all of it information was made confidential after the great Uchiha massacre. Naruto shook his head and sighed as he decided that he was going to pay attention to what Iruka was going to teach that day.

"Alright students, today we will explain the basics of ninja techniques," Iruka said, "but first, can some one tell me—besides Sakura," he said as he saw Sakura quickly raise her hand before he even finished the question "—what do you need to perform these techniques?" Very few students raised their hands. "Ino?"

"You need chakra!" Ino said with a triumphant smile.

"Very good Ino!" Iruka replied smiling at her, "can someone explain to the class what chakra is?" he looked around the classroom. "What about you, Shikamaru?" Iruka said, as he noticed that Shikamaru was asleep on the desk, "Nara Shikamaru! Wake up!"

Shikamaru looked up at the teacher groggily and sighed, "Mendokuse…." He said as he sat up straight. "Ugh… Chakra is the elemental type energy that a ninja uses in jutsu and is the source of the ninja's power. Ninjas use both their chakra and spiritual energy—which is only improved through training and experience—to complete a jutsu. When both body and spirit energies are blended together and the proper hand seals are formed, a technique can be executed. To perform a Ninjutsu or Genjutsu technique, it is crucial to mix your chakra correctly. Chakra is only needed for executing Ninjutsu and Genjutsu attacks. It is not needed to perform Taijutsu attacks, as Taijutsu is dependent solely on stamina alone," Shikamaru answered as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Everyone in the room was looking at him in surprise, even Iruka. _He knows a lot… then why the heck are his grades so low?_ Iruka thought as he proceeded with the class.

"Very good Shikamaru," Iruka replied, still looking surprised. "Well… Other than chakra, there is another factor that plays a part in the execution of a technique," Iruka added, "can someone tell me what that factor is?"

"Stealth?" Kiba asked, without bothering to raise his hand.

"Practice?" Sakura said.

"Those were very good answers, but no," Iruka replied, "The factor I'm talking about is stamina, as it plays a big role in the life of a ninja. Stamina is the ability to resist fatigue and tiredness. It is the amount of endurance you have, both physically and mentally. Without stamina, you cannot have chakra. In order for you to have chakra, you must convert it from stamina." A hand was raised.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Iruka-sensei, can you convert stamina from chakra?"

Iruka nodded, "It might be a bit more difficult to convert stamina from chakra than converting chakra from stamina, but it is still possible." Sakura nodded. "Anyway, each technique needs a different amount of energy in different proportions. The mind and body power must be used in different proportions to execute different techniques. If you are unable to control the balance, the technique you are trying to perform will either be only half as effective or not executed at all." He looked at his students. "Any questions?"

"How much (munch) chakra can someone (munch) have?" Choji asked while eating a bag of chips.

"Choji! How many times have I told you that you aren't allowed to eat in the classroom?" Iruka said. Choji pouted as he placed his chips out of view. "Anyway that depends on the person, his stamina, his endurance, and his training," Iruka answered.

"What happens when you completely run out of chakra?" Kiba asked.

"Well, in some cases, your body just goes limp and numb… some people fall into days, weeks even months long comas, and in the worst case scenario… some die," he said simply. All the chit-chat in the room ceased. Naruto looked shocked. _You can die? Just like that?_ Naruto thought. Iruka decided to break the silence.

"Alright, now we shall go outside to practice chakra molding; and if you master this quickly enough I will teach you how to run on tree tops and roof tops!" With those words of motivation, the whole class (except Shikamaru who thought that it was too troublesome, Sasuke who already knew how to do this and Shino that was… well Shino), ran outside excitedly, completely forgetting about everything else.

-O-O-O-O-

Teuchi, owner and founder of Ichiraku, the most famous ramen stand in Konoha (and Naruto's favorite) was glad that he had hired Kenshin. He worked really hard for such a small pay, and he always seemed happy to help. He worked fast and diligently, and above all he treated the costumers with respect. Teuchi has heard about the costumers talking about being satisfied with Kenshin's work. He couldn't be more proud! _Maybe Ayame should ask Kenshin out on a date… he would make a great son-in-law!_ He smiled as he pictured all of his future grandkids helping around in his ramen stand…

"Teuchi-dono?" Kenshin said, as he waved his hand in front of the older man's face. "He's spacing out, de gozaru…" he added as he looked at Ayame. "Does this happen often, Ayame-dono?"

Ayame looked at him with a smile, "More than you can imagine."

Kenshin smiled back as he returned to sweep the floor. He was currently wearing the Ichiraku's uniform, which consisted of a small hat, a blue apron, over an informal bon white yukata. At first, Kenshin was a bit reluctant about not wearing his old yukata, but he had to summit… that thing was so old, it was scary. _Maybe after Sessha finishes, Sessha will buy new clothes, de gozaru,_ Kenshin thought as he swept under the counter.

"Kenshin-san, why don't you take a brake? You've been working all day…" Ayame said, offering him a cup of green tea, which he politely accepted.

"Hai… arigatou, Ayame-dono," Kenshin said, letting go of the broom and sitting on one of the stools. Kenshin just began sipping a bit of the delicious, warm, and soothing green tea, when a costumer entered the infamous ramen stand. Kenshin quietly stood up and bowed politely at the newcomer while Ayame said,

"Welcome to Ichiraku's! How can I be of service?" the man that had entered had a hitai-ate covering his left eye, wore a mask that covered most of his face, and was reading a small orange book named 'Icha Icha Paradise.' "Oh! Hi Kakashi," Ayame greeted.

"Hello, Ayame," he said coolly without raising his view from the book that he was reading. "Just the usual, please," she nodded and smiled as she went to prepare his order. Kakashi noticed Kenshin, who had sat down, continuing to drink his tea. He raised his only visible eyebrow as he eyed the cross shaped scar on the man's left cheek. _He seems so familiar… could he be… Nah, I doubt it…_ Kakashi thought.

"Hey…" Kakashi said out loud, "I've never seen you around here…" Kenshin looked at him with a smile on his face.

"Oh, sessha is not from around here, de gozaru," Kenshin replied, "Sessha is just a traveler… Sessha is just working here part-time, de gozaru yo."

"Oh… so what's your name then?"

"It's Himura Kenshin, de gozaru," he answered. Kakashi nodded and returned to read his book. _Himura… Kenshin? Nope… it doesn't ring a bell… but he looks so much as Hitokiri the Battosai… the resemblance… it's uncanny… although Hitokiri didn't have a cross shaped scar on his left cheek and his eyes were amber… maybe the resemblance is just a mere coincidence…_Kakashi thought. _Although… I think it will be wise to ask the Hokage._

Kakashi began to watch him, as Kenshin stood up with the cup of tea in his hand…

"AH, KAKASHI! I SEE THAT YOU'RE ENJOYING YOUR SPRING TIME OF YOUTH!" Gai yelled as he entered the ramen stand abruptly…

"ORO!" Kenshin said, startled at Gai's sudden and unexpected entrance, as the cup of tea slipping of his hands and spilling its contents on the floor. Kenshin smiled sheepishly and apologized for his clumsiness as he bent down to pick up the remains of the shattered cup, but when he did so he slipped on the liquid, making him grip one of the store's banners to hold himself in vain as he still fell down on his bottom, ripping the banner down, making it fall over both Kakashi and Gai, and hitting his head very, very _hard_.

Kakashi took the banner off of him and looked at the young man. Poor Kenshin was completely unconscious. _Now I'm sure that he isn't Hitokiri… he was a very coordinated and skilled assassin… this guy is just a joke…_ Kakashi thought again as he sweat-dropped at both Gai's abrupt entrance and at Kenshin's clumsiness.

"You really should stop bursting into places like that, Gai" Kakashi said, going back to his book. "One of these days you're going to give someone a heart attack."

"Nonsense! He's probably just not in touch with his inner younger self!" Gai said, striking a nice guy pose.

"Aha… Whatever you say, Gai…" Kakashi said, not really paying attention to Gai.

_Argh! Kakashi! Your hip and cool attitude is so enviable!_ Gai thought to himself.

Ayame was staring at poor Kenshin, while Teuchi couldn't help but to chuckle at the young man's clumsiness.

"Ano… daijobou, Kenshin-san?" Ayame asked as she leaned over him, with a worried expression on her face.

"Oro…" Kenshin said with a hint of pain in his voice. With the help of both Gai and Kakashi, Kenshin was able to stand up and wit on a stool. "Arigatou, de gozaru…" Kenshin said, smiling sheepishly at them.

"YOU'RE QUITE WELCOME MY YOUTHFUL FRIEND!" Gai said, slapping Kenshin on the back (in a friendly way) a bit too hard. Kenshin winced and rubbed softly where Gai had 'patted' him.

"Anyway, gomenasai Ayame-dono, Teuchi-san, for making such a mess, de gozaru," Kenshin said, bowing his head slightly.

"Don't worry, Kenshin-san!" Ayame replied. Kenshin smiled in an ashamed way as Teuchi came with Kakashi's order.

"Here you go," he said, "sorry I took so long… I had to make the noodles…" Teuchi handed Kakashi a bowl of beef ramen. Kakashi nodded to him as his face—the visible part at that—showed him gratitude.

"Heh, you know what they say: 'Never rush perfection,'" Kakashi said. Teuchi smiled proudly at this. Ayame shook her head slightly. _I don't know if he's saying that for the ramen, or for himself and his bad habit of arriving late…_

_Such a cool and hip attitude! That, Kakashi, is what makes you worthy of being my eternal rival!_ Gai thought to himself, doing a 'nice guy' pose, as his eyes started burning with the 'Fire of Youth.'

_No Rachel! He will just break your heart again! _Kakashi thought as he read his dirty little orange book and began to eat his ramen.

_Heheh… never rush perfection… so true… I rule…_ Teuchi thought grinning widely as he made more noodles.

Kenshin just stared at all of them with a blank expression on his face. _Oro_… _why did they went silent all of the sudden, de gozaru?_

-O-O-O-O-

Naruto was currently sitting in the middle of the forest alone; trying to do the assigned exercise right. He was having a very bad time. Everyone had already mastered this exercise, everyone except him. Naruto groaned. His classmates were currently in another training area with Iruka, who was teaching them how to gather chakra to their feet to help them run faster, and he was still stuck trying to mold his chakra right. _Why can't I do this? It looked so simple at first… heck, even Shikamaru, the laziest kid in the whole Ninja Academy did it…_Naruto thought angrily. He stood up from the ground and stretched.

"I'll just rest for a while… then I'll get back to it… maybe I'll ask Kenshin-nii-san to help me a bit…" he sighed. He placed his hands behind his head and started to glance up to the sky, with a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm... what am I doing wrong? If I'm right… Iruka-sensei said that molding chakra meant converting chakra from stamina…" he lowered his glance to the ground, "Well, I've been told that I have a lot of stamina… then… why can't I do it?"

Naruto rested against a tree and crossed his arms. "In the words of Shikamaru: _mendokuse…_" Naruto said as he looked around and was a bit surprised when he spotted Hinata standing behind a tree, apparently spying on him. When Hinata saw that he spotted him, and tried to hide herself behind a tree blushing intensively. Naruto just blinked, with a confused expression on his face.

"… Hinata?" he asked walking slowly toward the young Hyuuga. Hinata was still hiding behind the tree, breathing hard. "Hinata…? Is that you…? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

Hinata gulped as she said, "Um… I was… um… j-j-just p-passing b-by a-and I-I… um… s-saw y-you t-t-training, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked dumbfounded. "But… aren't you supposed to be with Iruka-sensei and with the rest of the class?" Hinata's face turned to a deeper color of crimson.

"Um… I-I… um… erm…" Naruto watched as she began to fidget around with her index fingers, staring at the ground as if she was ashamed of something; and then it hit him.

"HINATA! YOU!" he grabbed her by the shoulders, making Hinata blush even more. She stared at him with wide eyes. "YOU!! YOU DID THE EXERCISE!"

"Y-yes I-I did…" she looked at him confused with wide eyes.

"Then you can teach me how to do it! Right?" he looked at her with big hopeful eyes. Hinata was shocked. Her dear Naruto-kun just asked _her—_out of all people_—_to help him with the exercise. This was the very first time Naruto asked her for a favor, and—to put it simple—Hinata felt like fainting.

"…"

"Hinata? Please! I'm desperate! How am I ever going to become Hokage if I can't master chakra molding?" he said, and indeed he looked desperate. "Please Hinata!"

_Is it true? Does he need that much help?_ Hinata thought. She looked toward him and nodded, since she couldn't find her voice.

"YATTA! THANK YOU HINATA!" he said smiling widely toward her. Hinata blushed once more. Hinata smiled a bit toward him. She took a deep breath, as she found some of her confidence and said.

"Y-You're w-welcome," she smiled again, "N-now… u-um… c-can you… um… show me h-how y-you have been d-doing it…?" she said in a barely audible voice, while playing with her fingers and starring to the ground. Naruto raised an eyebrow. He placed his hand in her chin and pulled her face up, making her have eye contact with him. Hinata's face turned red.

"Hinata… I won't learn anything if I can hear you… speak louder," Naruto said smiling at her.

Hinata looked at him, "H-Hai… gomenasai, Naruto-kun."

"Don't worry about it!" Naruto grinned. Hinata smiled softly. She breathed deeply again and said in a louder voice.

"Can y-you s-show me h-how you h-have been d-doing the e-exercise s-so far?" Naruto nodded.

"All right!" He sat down on the ground placed both of his hands together forming the seal of the serpent as he began to concentrate. Hinata watched him attentively. She knew that he was concentrating very hard, and that he had plenty of stamina to manage this exercise, but she still didn't understand why he couldn't manage to mold his chakra.

"AAAAGGHH!" Naruto shouted after five minutes of concentration. "Hinata! Why can't I do it? I don't think that I can concentrate any harder!"

Hinata frowned slightly. "I-I k-know N-Naruto-kun… I-I c-could feel h-how hard you w-were concentrating…"

"Then, what am I doing wrong?" Naruto asked her, still sitting in the ground.

"I-I'm n-not sure…" she kept looking at him. "C-Can you s-show me a-again the p-position y-you use for c-chakra m-molding?" Naruto raised an eyebrow but complied. Hinata noticed how he placed his hands together forming the serpent seal. "Ah… m-maybe i-it's because o-of the hand seal y-you a-are using…"

"What's wrong with this seal?" Naruto asked, while crossing his arms.

"Well… the seal t-that is used f-for this e-exercise is t-the s-seal of the t-tiger, n-not the s-seal o-of the s-serpent…" Hinata said in a soft voice. Naruto blinked twice.

"This is the seal of the serpent? I thought it was the seal of the tiger! Arrghhh! I always get my hand seals confused!" Naruto said with noticeable frustration. "Which one is the seal of the tiger, then?" Naruto asked.

Hinata did said hand seal, "This one… n-now maybe, if you c-concentrate a-again, you will be able to d-do the exercise." Hinata said.

Naruto nodded. "Okay," he did the right hand seal and concentrated again. He closed his eyes tightly and he breathed in and out and almost instantly, he felt some sort of strange energy running through his body, giving him more energy and adrenaline. He opened his eyes, as he saw some blue-ish looking energy surrounding his whole body. Naruto looked toward Hinata with wide eyes. _Is this how chakra feels like?_ He thought to himself.

"Y-You d-did it, N-Naruto-kun! Y-You did it!" Hinata said, clapping her hands together, smiling widely. Naruto smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan! I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help! I really owe you a big one!"

Hinata blushed yet again. She had heard him use the –chan suffix with her name; which she has never heard him use before… well, only in her dreams. "You're w-welcome, Naruto-kun."

"You know, you should come to Ichiraku's with Iruka-sensei and me to eat some ramen together! I'll pay for you!" Naruto said smiling widely. Hinata looked at him with an astonished look on her face.

"Oh, Naruto-kun! Y-You don't h-have to—"

"I know I don't have to… but I want to. You helped me, so I owe you!" Naruto replied, cutting her off. "I saved a bit of money because I was planning on inviting Sakura-ch… Sakura, but she declined…again…" Naruto looked sad for a moment, "so money is not a problem!" he added, smiling a bit again.

"A-Are y-you sure? I-I do n-not w-want to be b-burden, Naruto-kun…" Hinata said, staring at the ground. She wanted to say yes, she really did; but her lack of confidence, bashfulness, and of course, her puppy crush in Naruto, she just couldn't.

Naruto just laughed, "Why would you be a burden? I already said that money isn't a problem!" he grinned, "You are coming to Ichiraku's with Iruka-sensei and me; and I'm not taking a 'no' for an answer!"

Hinata's face reddened again. "I g-guess that I-I don't h-have a c-choice then…" she said while smiling. Naruto flashed a smile toward her again.

"That's right, you don't!" he said, "but first… I have to go back to Iruka-sensei! I can't wait to run on rooftops like real ninjas!" Hinata giggled softly. Suddenly they both tensed when they heard a faint noise coming from a nearby bush. With instinct, Naruto got on a defensive stance in front of Hinata.

"Whoever is hiding in there, c-come out and show yourself, coward!" Naruto said, _trying_ his best to hide the fear from his voice. Suddenly, Kiba leaped out of the bush and landed in front of Naruto and Hinata all covered in leaves and twigs.

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata said.

He glared at Naruto, "I'm not a coward! My shirt got wrangled in that bush!" Kiba replied, enraged. Naruto grinned.

"If you are not a coward… what were you doing in the bush in the first place?" he crossed his arms, feeling triumphant.

Kiba just smirked, "You know that if you want to be a good ninja, you need to have stealth skills!"

Naruto blinked twice. _Well… that's true… ARGH! I can't think of a comeback! _"Um… yeah, sure, whatever… what are you doing here anyway?" Naruto said, trying to change the subject.

"Iruka-sensei was doing a roll call, and noticed that Hinata was missing, so he sent the whole class to look for her," Kiba said. Hinata blushed.

"O-Oh my…. I c-caused all that t-trouble? I-I'm sorry," she apologized. Kiba just smirked, showing his puppy fangs.

"Heh, don't worry! It was actually kinda fun!" Kiba answered. Just then, another two figures approached them.

"Finally… I found them, Shino," one of the figures said. They both walked up to them. "Next time Kiba, wait for the rest of the group, will ya?" Shikamaru said, with a tired expression on his face. "It's not much of a three man squad if one goes ahead and leaves the other two in the back…"

Shino silently agreed.

"Aw, c'mon! It's not my fault you guys are so slow!" Kiba replied, smirking. Shikamaru sighed.

"Mendokuse…" Shino shook his head.

"Being in a three-man squad means working together—teamwork," Shino said. Everyone looked at him since it was very rare when he actually said something.

"Alright! Alright! I'm sorry, ok?" Kiba said, pouting.

"Don't worry about it…" Shikamaru said, rubbing his own shoulder. "Man… all that running gave me a shoulder cramp…"

"Hey! Hey! wait a minute!" Naruto shouted, interrupting their little chatter, "What about me?" Naruto asked, "Didn't Iruka-sensei sent for me too? I wasn't in the group either!"

Kiba grinned, "He knew that you were still stuck trying to mold you chakra, so he didn't bother that much."

"Oh…" Naruto said, feeling a bit ashamed.

"Ah, don't worry Naruto! I'm sure that _someday_ you'll get a hang of it!" Kiba said, while laughing.

Naruto glared, "For your information, I already mastered chakra molding! Hinata-chan helped me!"

Kiba looked dumbfounded. "Hinata-_chan_?" he looked at Hinata, "Oh, so that means that Hinata must be a really good teacher!"

"Yeah—HEY! What's that's supposed to mean!?" Naruto yelled at him. The young Inuzuka just smirked.

"Interpret that anyway you want, Naruto!" He said. "Anyway, we should get going, the others are still looking for you, Hinata!" Kiba said, smiling toward Hinata's direction.

"H-Hai, Kiba-kun," Hinata said, nodding. "Y-You s-should c-come t-too, N-Naruto-kun."

"Huh? Oh yeah… I should."

"Let's go already…" Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes. They all nodded as they departed and walked into the forest.

-O-O-O-O-

"Fourth time this week…" a small boy said, holding a teddy bear was starring, with his aqua green eyes, at two almost-dead bodies in the ground, in the middle of a dark alley, surrounded by a pool of crimson blood. Even if the body of the young child was all drenched in blood, he wore a calm expression on his face; calm, but definitely sad. He watched as they looked at him, with looks of hatred and fear. The boy clinched to his teddy bear tighter when he felt a trickle of blood go down his cheek, a small trickle of blood that didn't belong to him.

"The fourth time this week my father has ordered to kill me…"

"**_Your father fears you… he's a coward."_**

The little boy got less tense when he heard the 'voice'. At first, when he was younger, he was scared of the 'voice'. It used to give him nightmares… blood-filled nightmares. The 'voice' always told him to do stuff that he really didn't want to do… but sometimes ended up doing anyway. But now, it's a complete different story.

"The fourth time this week someone attacks me…"

"**_They fear your power…"_**

The 'voice' brought him comfort and warmth, something that he hasn't felt before, not even with his uncle. It made him feel as if he wasn't lonely anymore.

"The fourth time this week… I've hurt someone…"

"**_They attacked you first…"_**

He raised his arm, and when he did so, the sand surrounding him engulfed the bodies of the almost dead shinobi.

_It made him feel…_

"**_Kill them…"_**

Slowly, he closed his fist, making the sand around the victim's body tighter. He could hear the screams of horror of the two Shinobi… he could hear as they begged for mercy. Inside his head, he could hear the 'voice' laughing maniacally.

_As if..._

"_**KILL THEM!"**_

He closed his fist tightly. The sand crushed the bodies of the two Suna Shinobi, making blood splatter all around the alley. He could hear the 'voice' laughing evilly.

"**_The blood… the screams of terror… doesn't it give you pleasure, my young kabu?" _**

The little boy just looked up to the sky, and stared at the moon. He stared back at the ground, were the two bodies used to be.

"Yes… yes, it does."

_As if he had a friend._

-O-O-O-O-

Japanese Terms

**Ohayo-** Good morning

**Musumo-** daughter.

**Otou-san-** Father.

**Sandaime- **The Third

**Ojii-san- **Grandpa, Old man.

**Nii-san-** Big Brother.

**Mizukage-** Water Shadow, Leader of the Village Hidden in the Mist.

**Gomenasai-** I'm sorry

**Kounochi- **Female Ninja.

**Mendokuse-** Troublesome

**Arigatou-** Thank you

**Daijobou- **Are you alright? Or, I'm alright! (depends on how you use it)

**Suna- **Sand

**Shinobi- **Male ninja (if I'm not mistaken)

**Hai-** yes.

**Kabu-** cub

A/N: Here it is! The second chapter! 19 pages long, excluding the Japanese terms, and authoress notes. Sorry I took so long… had a few problems… well I still do. For some reason, my internet only works during the night… I know it's weird but it's true! Anyway… now to thank my reviewers.

**Dez Guardius: **Yay! You were my first reviewer! I'm glad you like NarutoxHinata paring! Please read and review again. By the way, I tried to read your story, but the computer blocks some of your chapters… don't worry, it's not only yours… it happens to me all the time.

**Quise: **Thank you!

**Zerodragon: **Thanks!

**Honebar: **Yeah, I know! That's one of the reasons why I decided to post this story! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**AxeltheNekko: **Dude… I owe you a big one! Thanks sooo much for helping me with the spelling in this chapter! WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU!? Lol just kidding, but still, thanks a bunch! I love you! n.n

**FemNaruYaoilover: **Thank you!

**Chrosis:** Thanks! Yeah, I know that I should've paid more attention to the Japanese terms… I did to this one! I hope… and yes! They will be in the chunnin exam! Read and review!

A/N: Oh! And another thing... unless I get at least 12 more reviews for this chapter I won't update! C'mon people! The more you review, the faster I update!


	3. Old Friends and some new friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Naruto.

"Blah" normal dialog.

'_Blah'_ flashback dialog.

_-Blah_- thoughts.

-O-O-O-O-

Chapter Three

Old friends, and some new friends.

A young boy, with red hair and peculiar black circles around his eyes was softy swinging himself all alone in the swings of the park, watching other children play. He hugged his lone companion—a cuddly teddy bear—as he wished that he was there with the other kids as well, laughing and smiling, feeling happy just for being alive. He sighed sadly. He wanted to get on his feet and run toward those kids and say: 'I know a really cool game that we can play together.' Of course, if he did that he would be lying… he didn't' know any cool games because he has never had anyone to play with. _And besides… they would just call me a monster and run away…like they always do_ the boy thought. The red haired child got off the swing and walked away from the park.

While he walked through the streets of Sunagakure, he could see how people looked at him with fear in their eyes, or how mothers quickly grabbed their small children and entered the safety or their homes. Gaara knew that this fear had to do _something_ with his ability to control sand… but he just thought that that was a special gift he had, nothing else. He knew that there were other people who could control water and turn it into ice, people who could breathe fire, and people that could create giant Tsunamis just with a few hand seals. So why was everybody afraid of_ him_? Okay… maybe not many people can control sand how he can… but it's not as if he would try to kill anybody with it… unless he really had to.

"Well… at least you like me, Suna… right?" the boy said to his teddy bear. The red haired boy just smiled softly. "I know you do." He slowly walked past the Kazekage tower, and looked at it.

"Father…" he said. He knew that his father hated him because the boy's mother had died by giving birth to him. That must be why he has sent countless of ninja to kill him. It was his fault that his mother had died. His fault only. He would help his dad get rid of him… but he has already tried to hurt himself, and the sand always intervened. He has never felt pain in his short life. He doesn't know how it feels to get a bruise or a 'boo-boo' how Kankurou used to say.

Kankurou and Temari… his older siblings; who he knew that also despised him for taking the life of their mother, and who also feared him for his ability to control sand like some sort of third arm. He didn't hate them for hating him though… he also hates himself.

He walked a bit more, reaching a bar filled with drunken men. He saw how a few of them were retching in nearby trashcans, others that were thrown out by the bartender by starting a fight inside the bar, and other similar cases. The boy just rolled his eyes. _Sometimes… humans are a bit pathetic._ He really disliked drunken men. Those were the type of men that always insulted him when he walked by them.

"Look…-hic- it's the –hic- demon spawn –hic-" a man that was somewhere in his forties but looked much more older for his bad habit of drinking.

"Eh, he don't look so –hic-tough…" said yet another drunken person.

"Hey, maybe we should-hic-waste him and earn our –hic- pay with the Kazekage… he would be –hic-delighted…"said the first man. The boy just glared at him. It was at times like this when he used his sand to kill. He hugged his teddy bear tightly as he readied himself, his sand slowly but ferociously forming behind him. If the sand had eyes, it would be glaring menacingly at them.

"Oh, you think you're –hic-so tough because you –hic-control sand?" a third man said. "C'mon! Let's annihilate –hic- him!" All three of them pounced toward the small boy, who didn't even flinch, but they were suddenly stopped, and the three of them went flying backwards, falling on the ground forcefully.

"Don't you bastard know any better than to assault a little kid? That's low… even for drunken men." The boy's eyes widened as he saw a tall man stand in front of him, with a kanji for 'Wicked' in his back. "Hey kid, I know that you could've taken care of 'em… but let me handle this one." He smirked, "I haven't had any action in days!" The boy just nodded slightly, feeling very surprised.

The man got into a defensive stance… until he noticed that the men were knocked on the ground unconscious… and weren't getting up anytime soon. "Huh… I guess I overdid it," the man said scratching his head. He turned around to face the boy. "Hey there. The name's Sagara Sanosuke. Most people just call me Sano though…" the child just looked around and blinked a few times until he understood that the man called Sano was talking to _him._

"I-I-I'm Gaara…" he said with a soft, squeaky voice. The man just laughed.

"Yeah, I figured as much when I saw you using your sand, kid." Gaara was surprised that the man knew he was, and hadn't run away, or tried to kill him. "Hey… it's late... you should be heading home now." Sano said to him.

Gaara looked down to the ground, "It's… okay… I don't have to be home early…" he said in a shy voice.

"Heh… you don't? Most kids I know have to be in bed by 7 o clock," he smirked. He softly patted Gaara on the back. "You shouldn't walk alone in this streets… these drunk men will keep assaulting ya if you do." Gaara just tilted his head curiously.

"Gomen… I… um… it's just… that… uh… s-s-sometimes I… um… s-space out and… uh… I… really… erm… d-d-don't pay attention t-to w-where… I… um… eehh… am ... going…" Gaara said, looking like the exact replica of a male Hinata. (A/N: with the twiddling fingers and everything!). He has never stuttered like this… but this was the first person he talked to outside his family… he really didn't want to screw it up.

"Oh… don't sweat it then…" Sano said as he ruffled Gaara's messy red hair, "Just try to stay out of trouble, eh?" he laughed. Gaara just nodded.

"Well… Since I know that you can take care of yourself… I'm off. I'll see ya around." The man waved softly and walked away, into the shadows of the night.

It took Gaara a few minutes to elaborate what had happened. A man that knew who he was had stood up for him, defending him from three drunken men. How come he wasn't afraid of him? Why didn't his sand repel him when he patted Gaara on the back? And who the heck was he? Gaara knew that his name was Sagara Sanosuke… but he has never seen him around the streets of Sunagakure… he certainly didn't look like a ninja… he had no hitai-ate… Gaara shook his head softly… he felt a headache coming in.

"C'mon Suna… we're going home…" Gaara said as he began walking again, his head spinning with unanswered questions until he reached one of the village houses. His house; where he lived with his dear uncle, Yashamaru. He wasn't allowed to live with his other siblings, so Yashamaru made it his 'mission in life' to take care of him, at least until he became a ninja.

"Gaara-sama?" his uncle said when he saw the young boy enter the house.

"Hi Yashamaru…" Gaara said.

"Why are you here so early in the night? Usually you wait until 3 a.m. to come in… unless there's a sand storm outside…" Yashamaru asked, with a curious look in his eyes.

Gaara just looked at him, "I … don't know… I just felt like coming early…"

"Oh… well alright Gaara-sama. You want me to fix you something to eat?" Yashamaru asked.

"No… I'm not hungry… I think that I'll go up to my room to… read for a while…" Gaara said. Yashamaru nodded.

"Oyasuminasai, Gaara-sama." Yashamaru said.

"Oyasuminasai, Yashamaru," Gaara said. He still didn't know why his uncle said good night to him, when he has never been able to sleep… He shrugged the thought off and walked upstairs. He had a lot of thinking to do about that Sano person…

-O-O-O-O-

"Argh… Kenshin-nii-san, I'm tired…" Naruto whined while he followed Kenshin through a long almost endless trail in the forest that led toward the desert. At has already been a day and a half ever since they left Konoha. "We've been walking forever!"

"Naruto-kun… it has only been four hours since we began to walk again… and we've already have had five rest stops. We left Konoha a day and a half ago and we still aren't half way there…at this rate the three-day walk will change to a week, de gozaru," Kenshin said sternly to Naruto. "If you want to be a good ninja you have to get used to even longer and farther walks."

"Yeah… but we've been walking ever since yesterday!" Naruto added, plopping down to the ground.

"Well… sessha isn't really all that tired…" Kenshin said turning around and facing a tired Naruto.

"Yeah but you're used to it! I'm only a kid!" Naruto replied.

"Yes, sessha knows, Naruto-kun," Kenshin said, "But there are some people that at your age are already at chunnin even jounin level."

"T-there are?" Naruto asked, with wide eyes.

Kenshin merely nodded, "Yes; and if you want to become strong, some sacrifices will have to be made, de gozaru."

Naruto looked down ashamed, "Ano… gomenasai, Kenshin-nii-san… I won't whine again, I promise!" Naruto smiled slightly toward Kenshin, "Say… Kenshin-nii-san… should I start calling you now 'Kenshin-_sensei?_" Naruto asked to Kenshin, who merely smiled.

"Call sessha whatever you seem proper, Naruto-kun."

"Alright, Kenshin-sensei!" Naruto smiled and so did Kenshin.

"Hmm… sessha can hear a river nearby… c'mon Naruto, we have to refill our canteens, we will be reaching the desert soon, and trust sessha… you don't want to be in the desert without any water."

"Hai, Kenshin-sensei!" Naruto replied. _Kenshin-sensei…it has a nice ring to it, de gozaru…_Kenshin thought. They got off route and went a bit deeper into the forest, until they both could hear the sound of running water. When they got there, Kenshin placed his baggage down and began to fill the canteens with cold, fresh water from the river. He was about to take a sip of it when he heard Naruto yell 'BONZAI' splashing into the water, and soaking the Rurouni in the process.

"Naruto-kun! What are you doing?!" Kenshin asked, with wide eyes.

"Swimming!" Naruto answered simply. He had taken his clothes off—except his underwear—and swam around the fresh river water, with not a care in the world.

"Naruto-kun… you should ask permission before you do things like this, de gozaru," Kenshin said, looking at Naruto seriously. He knew he was being a bit stern with Naruto and he also understood that since Naruto didn't have a parental figure in his home, he wasn't very used to follow directions; which meant that Kenshin had to teach the child one of the most important lesson that a shinobi needs to know: discipline.

"Aww… but Kenshin-sensei! It's hot, and I was tired… so I decided to take a dip into the water… that's not bad, is it?" Kenshin found the little boy's innocence amusing. He had a certain independence, he'll give him that much.

"No… but since I'm your sensei, you should do what sessha says, not what you decide that you should do… at least not yet, de gozaru," Kenshin said while picking up Naruto's clothes from the ground. "You always need to listen to your elders."

"But… you're not THAT old Kenshin-sensei…" Naruto answered curiously. Kenshin couldn't help but to laugh.

"By 'elders' sessha means people who are older than you, Naruto-kun," Kenshin said, smiling slightly.

"Oh…"

"You see Naruto-kun," Kenshin removed his sandals and placed his feet inside the water, so they could relax their muscles, allowing him to walk more. "When you grow up and are in a three-man squad, you're not always going to be the leader, de gozaru," Kenshin said, "so you will have to listen to what the leader says, because if he or she was made leader it was probably because he or she has a better expertise than you in the grounds that you were sent to do your mission."

"But what if the leader is younger than me? I get to boss him or her around, no?" Naruto said looking at Kenshin with hope filled eyes.

"No, Naruto-kun, even if your leader is younger than you, you still have to do what he or she says, de gozaru."

"Oh… darn it…" Naruto said while pouting.

"Well, Naruto-kun it's time to get out of the water… there's still a long way to go, de gozaru," Kenshin said taking his feet out of the water.

"Aw… all righty, Kenshin-sensei!" Naruto said while getting out of the water. His hair was drenched and covered most of his eyes. Naruto giggled.

"Get dressed, Naruto-kun, before you catch a cold, de gozaru," Kenshin smiled. He adjusted his sandals tightly on his feet, and his sword on his waist. Naruto smiled as he began to get dressed into his brand-new clothes that Kenshin bought for him. When Kenshin had seen the conditions he had been living in and the clothes he possessed, he couldn't help but to feel sorry for the little boy. He ended up buying him plenty of clothes with his hard earned money at Ichiraku's.

"Are you ready, de gozaru? Then let's go," Kenshin said as they left the river and got back into the route again. Naruto followed closely behind, now feeling relaxed and refreshed.

"Um… not to be pressuring you or anything, Kenshin-sensei… but when is my first training lesson going to be?" Naruto said, breaking the minute long silence between them.

"Well, you're quite eager, de gozaru!" Kenshin said while chuckling. He stopped in his tracks and faced Naruto. He grabbed a falling leaf and threw it to Naruto's forehead. Naruto was a bit surprised that the leaf was sticking to his forehead without falling off. "I'm going to teach you about molding chakra into a desired part of your body in controlled quantities, and coordination."

"Huh? How?"

"All you have to do is make that leaf stick onto your forehead using chakra until we reach our destination, de gozaru," Kenshin said.

"That sounds super easy Kenshin-sensei!" Naruto said filled with confidence.

"It's not at easy as it sounds… you see if you use too much chakra, the leaf will blown away from your forehead. If you don't use enough chakra, the leaf will simply fall of from your forehead, de gozaru," Kenshin added. "Now, show sessha."

Naruto nodded. He concentrated as much as he could and tried to send a controlled quantity of his chakra onto his forehead. The leaf flew off at least five feet from where they were standing. "Okay… so maybe it's not that easy…" He went and picked up the leaf. "What's the coordination part?"

"You have to do this while walking—which will easily knock your concentration off the leaf, making this exercise even harder, de gozaru."

Naruto nodded once more. "Well, I'll have this exercise done and mastered before we reach our destination!" Naruto said with determination.

"Hai, sessha knows you will, Naruto-kun."

--

After six more hours of walking, little Naruto was exhausted. Trying to make a leaf stick in your fore head using only chakra was tiring work. He has tripped hundreds of times, and he still wasn't able to make the leaf stick to his forehead. He sighed frustrated.

"Naruto-kun… is everything alright, de gozaru?" Kenshin asked to little Naruto.

"Argh… I just can't make this leaf stick to my forehead… it's too difficult!" Naruto said, glaring at the leaf in his hand.

_Hmm… he just has so much chakra, and at such an early age too… he isn't able to use specific amounts with it_…he thought, "Do not worry, Naruto-kun you'll do it, de gozaru," Kenshin said, smiling toward Naruto.

"Isn't there an easier way to do this?" Naruto asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I'm afraid this is the easiest way sessha knows, de gozaru," Kenshin said, smiling sheepishly toward little Naruto. Naruto whined.

"Okay then… I'll just have to find my inspiration…" Naruto stopped walking and stared at the sky thoughtfully. Kenshin, feeling curious, stopped to see what Naruto was doing. Naruto rubbed his chin as he kept glancing to the skies above. _If I learn to do this exercise quickly… the sooner I get to try out all of these cool jutsus in the scrolls that Hokage-ojii-san gave me…and the one Hinata gave me too about hand seals…_Naruto thought.

-O-O-O-O-

_Flashback_

_Exactly two months after Naruto was released from the hospital, Kenshin and Naruto stood in front of the Konoha gates at 6 am in the morning. The sun was just rising, turning the skies a beautiful shade of orange. There with them was Iruka-sensei and the Sandaime, that decided to bid Naruto farewell since they might not see him in a few years._

"_Well… today's the day, Naruto…" Iruka said, as he smiled softly toward the blond child. "The day that you begging your training with Himura-san."_

_Naruto grinned widely, "Yeah! Just wait until I come back! I will be sooo strong; Konoha will BEG me to become Hokage!" Naruto said. The Sandaime couldn't help but to laugh._

"_I wouldn't doubt it Naruto… I wouldn't doubt it at all," Sarutobi said, "Now you better behave for Kenshin-san, alright?"_

"_Of course I will behave! If not, Kenshin will kick my butt to punish me, right Kenshin-nii-san?"_

_Kenshin laughed, "No… sessha will not kick your butt, de gozaru… but sessha will find a suitable punishment for you if you don't follow directions, de gozaru," Kenshin said, smiling toward Naruto._

"_Well… I hope you two have a safe trip…" Iruka said… he was starting to feel his eyes watering slightly. He crouched to Naruto's height and hugged him tightly. "Take care, Naruto."_

_Naruto smiled and hugged him back, "Don't worry…I promise to take good care of myself…and Kenshin-nii-san!" _

"_Hahah… I know you will," said Iruka as he let go of him._

"_Well, are you ready, Naruto-kun?"_

"_Yeah I'm—"_

"_WAIT!" Naruto was cut off in the middle by that yell. Naruto turned around to see Kiba running in all fours, following by a panting Hinata, a pained Shikamaru and a… uh…Shino._

"_Good! We got here before you left!" Said Kiba, smiling widely. "What were you thinking? Leaving without saying good-bye to us! You sure have some nerve…"_

"_I'm sorry! But I didn't want to wake you guys up…" Naruto said, smiling sheepishly. Naruto had been very close to them ever since the little encounter in the forest. Even though Kiba and Naruto argued a lot, they were still good friends. Hinata, Shikamaru and Shino didn't stay far behind. Ever since that encounter, they had lunch together every day after the academy and got together to play in the park, gaze at the clouds, and pick flowers for Hinata._

"_It's alright… we understand…" said Hinata in her quiet, shy voice. "At least we got here… before you left." Ever since she began to hang with Naruto and the others, she began to stutter a lot less. It was as if her friends give her the confidence that she was lacking._

"_Yeah… even though getting up so early it's so troublesome…" Shikamaru whined._

"_Everything is troublesome for you!" Kiba said to him. Shino, with his serene but yet mysterious attitude, faced Naruto._

"_We came to bid you farewell, Naruto," he said._

"_Yeah… even if I don't want to admit it… things will be boring without you around!" Kiba replied, smiling and showing his puppy fangs._

_Shikamaru smirked, "Yeah… who will bother Iruka-sensei with their smart-aleck remarks?"_

_Naruto smiled as he saw Iruka rolls his eyes, "That is something that I would definitely NOT miss…" he said. _

"_Naruto-kun…" Hinata said shyly approaching Naruto. "H-Here… take this…" Hinata said, showing him a scroll. "It's a basic and i-intermediate lesson on h-hand seals…" Naruto looked surprised. He took the scroll into his hands and smiled. _

"_Thanks Hinata-chan! I really appreciate this!" Hinata blushed madly._

"_You're w-welcome, N-Naruto-kun…"_

_Iruka, Kenshin and the Sandaime smiled at this. They all knew that Hinata had a puppy crush on Naruto… well… all of them, but Naruto. He was clueless._

"_Naruto-kun… we should start moving now, de gozaru," Kenshin said._

_Naruto nodded, "Okay, Kenshin-nii-san!" Naruto said as he faced his friends. "I hope you guys get really strong too when I come back, okay?"_

_The four of them nodded, "Of course! I'm not going to lose to you!" said Kiba._

"_Indeed… someday I will be head of the Aburame Clan… I cannot be weak…" Shino replied._

"_It will be troublesome… but I will… if not, dad's going to be all over my back…"_

"_I promise, Naruto-kun…" Hinata said shyly, "I will also become stronger…" Naruto grinned._

"_Good!" Naruto said and waved to them as he exited Konoha through it's gates…_

_End of Flash back_

-O-O-O-O-

_My friends… I promised to become stronger… I can't let them down…_ Naruto thought. "Hmm… this will help me do more cool jutsus, right?" he said, "and the more jutsus I know, the stronger I become, right?"

Kenshin nodded, "Yes… that is if you learn to control the chakra in your body. The more control you have, the more jutsus you can make."

Naruto grinned, "All right! So if I get enough control, one day I'll be able to make my own jutsus!" Naruto said. He placed the leaf on his forehead and began to walk again. "C'mon Kenshin-sensei! I think that I can see the way out of this forest!"

Kenshin smiled once more, "All right, Naruto-kun. Let's go," Kenshin said, while following Naruto out of the forest and into the desert.

-O-O-O-O-

"This isn't going as expected…" a rip noise was heard coming from the guy's behind. He saw that he had just ripped part of his yukata off with the help a _lovely_ tree branch.

"This _really_ isn't going as expected…" the boy said again.

A teenage lad around sixteen walked through a dense forest looking serene and calm, but if you looked closely to his eyes, you could see that there was a small tinge of annoyance in them. He groaned as he slumped into the ground and drank some water from his canteen. "No one wants to do this, so why not send the happy-go-lucky guy! Oh and don't worry! He has his _Shukushi,_ he can find him quick, no problem!" the boy laughed at this. "Ah… why did I say yes?" the boy added smiling a bit sheepishly.

The boy felt as the gentle breeze made contact with his face. He sighed slightly. He had to find him… he just had to. Many people were counting on him to find the wanderer. He stared at the orange/pink sky above as he kept thinking about the consequences if he did not find the wanderer. They really needed his help, even if he already knew that the wanderer made a bow to never kill again. _Again… why did I say yes?_ The boy thought. "Such a heavy burden for one person to carry…"

He sighed once more while smiling a bit. "Oh well… no point on feeling regret about it now…" he said as he took a small scroll from his bag and opened it. "Okay… he's not in Kumogakure nor Hoshigakure… maybe I should check on Konohagakure… although it is a bit off track…hmmm, then I should look in Sunagakure first… it's the closest village…" he said as he made a circle around the word 'Sunagakure' and stood up from the ground.

"But I think that I might stop in Rice Country first… I'm running out of provisions for the trip… and to look for new clothes…" the boy picked up his baggage from the ground. "Heh… I never thought founding a simple wanderer could be this difficult…"

"Next time Aoshi-san wants something done, he should send one of his ninjas! They are the ones that know more about this territory than I do…" the boy dusted his pants, "But I already promised that I would… and Seta Sojiro never breaks promises" he said as he took off into the evening sunset.

-O-O-O-O-

It was already noon. Gaara was sitting on his favorite swing in the park, watching the kids play again. He could sit there for countless of hours, staring at the children, with his dear teddy bear by his side. Today the children were playing with a ball, kicking it around and trying to see who could kick it the farthest. It seemed like a fun game…_not that I would ever know…_ he thought with pessimism.

"C'mon! Is that the best you can do? You kick like a girl!" one of the kids said.

Gaara listened to them argue. What was so bad about kicking like a girl? Girls kick just like boys, no? Gaara shook his head, really not understanding what they meant by that. He shrugged the feeling off, as he began to think about last night's events. That… Sano person saving him from those drunken men. He still couldn't understand why that man had saved him. He knew that he could've killed those men easily and quickly, but Sano still fought for him. Although that man never killed the men though… he just knocked them unconscious. _Argh… I'm getting a headache again…_ the boy thought as softly massaged one of his temples.

"Kick it this way! I'm free!" another kid said.

Gaara kept watching as they kept kicking the ball back and fort. He hugged his teddy slightly as he began to swing softly.

"Aww man! It's all the way up there on that ceiling!" one kid say, getting Gaara's attention. "I can't reach it!"

"None of us can! We still haven't learned wall climbing in the Academy," a girl added.

Gaara's face brightened a bit. This was his chance! If he got that ball, and gave it back to the kids, maybe they'll appreciate him and become his friends. It wasn't very probable, but it was still worth a shot! _I might never get a chance like this in my life, so I might as well take it… _Gaara thought as he got of the swing and used his sand to reach the ball up on the roof top. The kids stared in awe, as the ball floated gently thanks to the sand, into Gaara's small hands. _Okay… you got this far… now try to be nice…_Gaara thought to himself as he gulped. His throat felt awfully dry, his knees were shaking and his hands were sweating. He felt very nervous. He slowly walked up to the children, with his gaze staring at the ball now on his hands.

"H-Here… I-I got t-the b-ball back for you…" _Oh great… I'm stuttering again…_Gaara thought as he stretched his arms to the children, who softly backed away.

"I-It's S-Sabaku N-No G-Gaara…" one of the kids said with fear in his voice.

"It's the monster-kid! RUN!" shouted another one as they began to run away from him.

"N-No! P-Please! D-don't run away from me!!" Gaara said, his eyes widening in horror as he fell on his knees letting go of the ball, feeling some tears streaming down his cheeks. He grabbed his head as if he was feeling some sort of searing pain, as his sand began to curl angrily behind his back. "I don't want to be alone!" he shouted.

-O-O-O-O-

A few moments earlier.

"_Here we are, Naruto-kun, Sunagakure!" Kenshin said while smiling toward Naruto, who finally had began to get a hang of sticking the leaf onto his forehead technique._

"_Aww… but I never managed to perfect this technique before we arrived…" Naruto said in a disappointed voice._

"_No… you haven't. But you have shown great determination, and that's something to be proud, de gozaru." Kenshin said. "Sessha bets if you keep practicing you'll have this technique mastered in less than three more days, de gozaru." Naruto grinned. _

"_Thanks, Kenshin-sensei!" Naruto answered. They walked for a few minutes until Naruto could see the park, where some kids were playing. _

"_Oooh! Kenshin-sensei! Can I go there? Maybe here I can make some friends since they don't really know who I am!" Naruto said smiling._

_Kenshin laughed. "Of course, Naruto-kun. You stay there, while I look for an inn where we can stay, de gozaru," Naruto leaped in the air and hugged Kenshin._

"_Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU!" Naruto said as he let go of his sensei and ran into the park. In there he saw a red haired child use sand to get a ball that had gotten stuck on a roof top. Naruto's eyes widened. "Wow… he can control sand… and he's barely my age! Kenshin-sensei was right! There are kids my age that are already really strong!"_

_Naruto kept watching the boy, as he offered the ball back to its owner kindly. What Naruto saw next was quite unexpected. The kids began to run away and scream with looks of horror on their faces. Naruto could even hear someone yelling 'monster-kid'. Naruto looked at this with a dumbfounded expression on his face, which quickly turned into an expression of anger, as he saw the red haired child fall onto his knees and cry, while the sand curled behind his back menacingly. But what impressed Naruto the most was the red haired kid said._

"_I don't want to be alone!"_

_Naruto couldn't take it. He knew what loneliness was like, and he didn't wish for anyone to suffer through it. He walked toward the red haired kid and stood behind him, trying to suppress the tears that reminded him of his life._

"_Then I'll play with you!"_

-O-O-O-O-

"Then I'll play with you!" a voice behind him said. Gaara's eyes widened. He turned around to see a boy not much younger that him, with cerulean blue eyes, bright blond hair, some sort of _whiskers_ on his cheeks, and a wide, happy smile. His sand slowly dropped onto the ground, as he kept staring at the boy. "Well, what do you say? Do you want to play, or not?"

Gaara was utterly speechless. He wanted to say yes, but his voice had escaped him, and his body felt paralyzed, so he couldn't even nod his head.

"Hellooooooo! Earth to kid!" the blond haired kid said, waving his hand in front of Gaara's eyes. "Do you want to play or not? I have some really cool moves I can show you!" he said while picking up the ball from the ground. Gaara just kept staring at him.

"Wow… not the talkative type, are you?" Naruto said as he began to juggle the ball, kicking it from knee to knee, like a soccer player. "C'mon don't look so down! If those kids don't want to play with ya, it's them that miss out on the fun!" Gaara's eyes widened at the boy's comment.

"But I'm… a monster…" Gaara replied with wide eyes.

"Monster? Ha… I'LL be the judge of that!" the blond kid said as he placed the ball under his left arm and placed his right hand on his chin, looking as if he was studying Gaara. He walked around the red haired kid, looking at him closely. "Hmm… no claws…" he said as he grabbed one of the boy's hands and looked at it. "No horns coming out of your head…" he said as he ruffled Gaara's hair. "And lastly…" He opened Gaara's mouth, "no sharp teeth or fangs." The blond kid smiled widely.

"I am quite sorry, but you sir, are no monster!" he said, faking a deep voice. Gaara managed to stifle a giggle.

"Yeah... I k-know that I-I don't look like a monster… but the people here say I am…" Gaara added in a sad voice.

"I don't get it… if you don't look like a monster… why do they even consider that you are one?"

"I'm not sure… but I think that it's for my ability to control sand…" Gaara answered.

"But that's no reason… being able to control sand is super cool! I wish I could do something like that!" the boy said, grinning widely.

"You… you think it's… cool?" Gaara said, with wide eyes. The blond haired boy nodded.

"Totally! Maybe you can teach me how to do that one of these days…" Gaara has never heard anyone saying that his ability to control sand… 'cool'. "What do you say?"

"W-well… I've never thought this to anyone… I was born with this ability…so I don't know if you'll be able to learn it…" Gaara said in his soft voice.

"Aww… bummer! Ah well… do you want to play then?" Gaara nodded slightly.

"Well then, get up!" Naruto said as he grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet. "By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Ninja of Konohagakure and after that, future _Hokage_ of Konohagakure!" he grinned widely toward Gaara.

"I-I'm Sabaku No Gaara…" Gaara managed to squeak out.

"Nice to meet you!" Naruto said. "Do you know any good game?" Naruto added smiling toward him. Gaara just shook his head.

"I've never played with anyone… so I don't…" he said sadly.

"Oh! Well, let's start with something easy! I'll kick the ball to you, and then you kick it back to me!" Naruto said, feeling sorry for the red haired child. Gaara simply nodded. He kicked the ball toward Gaara at a normal pace. Gaara stared at the ball coming toward him. He tilted his head and kicked it back to Naruto.

"Yeah! Just like that! Good job!" Naruto said, smiling widely. Gaara smiled slightly too as Naruto kicked the ball back to him. He kicked back to Naruto with more force.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Naruto said, as they kept playing for the hours to come…

-O-O-O-O-

A tall man, with short black hair was sitting down in the middle of a dojo, apparently meditating. His eyes were tightly closed, as he took constant semi-deep breaths of the air that had the scent of potpourri, thanks to the incense that was burning by his side. He mind felt relaxed, and so did his body. He released his mind of all impure thoughts. Ah yes… he has always loved meditating. So calming, so relaxing, so serene, so—

"AOSHI-SAMA!"

So _irritating!_

"Aoshi-sama! Aoshi-sama!" said the voice of a young female ninja. "Aoshi-sama!"

Aoshi sighed, "Yes, Misao?" he said, with his eyes still tightly closed. This must better be worth his time.

"I just came to say that Seta-san sent us a message with one of those Ninja postmen," Misao said, handing the envelope to Aoshi, who took it. He opened the envelope and red the contents of the letter.

"Aoshi-sama… what does the letter say? Did Seta-san find Himura-san?" Misao asked curiously

"Hmm… apparently, Himura was not on Kumo nor Hoshi…" Aoshi said, as he got up to his feet. "Apparently he's on his way to Suna now."

"I knew it! You should've sent me, Aoshi-sama!" Misao said while striking a victorious pose, "I, Makimashi Misao, best ninja ever would have founded him two weeks ago!" she said, but Aoshi didn't listen as he was already exiting the dojo. "Aoshi-sama! Wait for me!" Misao said as she ran after him.

Aoshi walked out of the dojo that was on top of a hill, hidden within a thick forest. He followed a route made out of dirt that led back to civilization, to the Hidden Village of the Mist, or Kirigakure.

"Why are we going back to the Village, Aoshi sama?" Misao asked curiously.

"I have to inform the rest of us about Seta's letter," he answered simply.

"But I still don't understand… why are you looking for Himura-san with such… anxiety?" Misao asked once more.

"Because… he needs to know." Aoshi answered, not looking at Misao straight in the eyes, as he kept walking through the dirt road.

"Needs to know what?"

"He needs to know… that Makoto Shishio survived."

-O-O-O-O-

OooooOoooh! Suspence! Finally, this story is getting interesting… (I hope) Oh well, now to the Japanese terms!

**Suna** – Sand (or how Gaara named his teddy bear)

**Kazekage** – Leader of the Village of the Sand (Wind Shadow)

**Gomen** – Sorry

**Oyasuminasai** – Good night

**Kumogakure** – Village Hidden in the Clouds

**Kirigakure** – Village Hidden in the Mist

**Hoshigakure** – Village Hidden in the Stars (yes it does exist in the Naruto series)

And now to thank the reviewers!

**Aracade –** Yeah I know… Gai-sensei is scary sometimes, though without him Naruto series wouldn't be the same… thanks for the review!

**Gojiro17 – **Thank you!

**Honebar - **Yay! Thank you! I hope you like this chapter too!

**Jacob ­– **Ohh… thanks for that tip then!

**ImmortalSaddness – **Oh Thank you!

**T.O.B. –** Thanks for making that clear for me! Please review again!

**Evaneezer – **Yeah… even though I got only eleven for this chapter I decided to update anyway… a friend of mine owes me a review, so I guess that counts XD Thanks for the review.

**Keniichi – **Thanks for the review! And no! Sugar is good for you! Lol!

**Farfignewgin – **Thanks for the review! And many thanks on the info!

**HakuoBlake – **Thank you!

**Dragoon Knight – **Thanks! Here you go! I hope you like this chapter.

Well, another chapter for you, my loyal readers! Now… since I'm stubborn and I have an alert list of 44 people… I expect AT LEAST 20 reviews (although I'll update too if I only get 15). And the sooner I get the reviews the sooner I'll post the next chapter… if not I'll just continue to update my other story and not this one because I might think that no one is interested on this one… You don't have to write a long review! Just a good job, or cool or ok! I just want reviews! That is not too much to assskk!


	4. I BE BACK!

OK you guys, sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time! My computer broke down a lot of months ago, and the new one I bought recently didn't have Microsoft word (I hate Wordpad) so I'm finally going to be able to update! Thank goodness!

Thank you for your kind attention everyone! And keep those reviews coming!

Oh by the way, I'm in college! Whooo!

I hope you peeps aren't to mad at me…

Oh… before I forget, I still haven't gotten the 20 reviews I asked for… I will NOT update until I get them. I'll give you guys one month, if not I wont update and I mean it.


End file.
